Definitions for consume
kənˈsumcon·sume

Princeton's WordNet(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. devour, down, consume, go through(verb)

   eat immoderately

   "Some people can down a pound of meat in the course of one meal"

2. consume, ingest, take in, take, have(verb)

   serve oneself to, or consume regularly

   "Have another bowl of chicken soup!"; "I don't take sugar in my coffee"

3. consume, squander, waste, ware(verb)

   spend extravagantly

   "waste not, want not"

4. consume(verb)

   destroy completely

   "The fire consumed the building"

5. consume, eat up, use up, eat, deplete, exhaust, run through, wipe out(verb)

   use up (resources or materials)

   "this car consumes a lot of gas"; "We exhausted our savings"; "They run through 20 bottles of wine a week"

6. consume(verb)

   engage fully

   "The effort to pass the exam consumed all his energy"

Wiktionary(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. consume(Verb)

   To use.

   The power plant consumes 30 tons of coal per hour.

   Etymology: From consumere.

2. consume(Verb)

   To eat.

   Baby birds consume their own weight in food each day.

   Etymology: From consumere.

3. consume(Verb)

   To occupy (one's attention or thoughts).

   Desire consumed him.

   Etymology: From consumere.

4. consume(Verb)

   To destroy completely.

   The building was consumed by fire.

   Etymology: From consumere.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Consume(verb)

   to destroy, as by decomposition, dissipation, waste, or fire; to use up; to expend; to waste; to burn up; to eat up; to devour

2. Consume(verb)

   to waste away slowly

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Consume

   kon-sūm′, v.t. to destroy by wasting, fire, evaporation, &c.: to use up: to devour: to waste or spend: to exhaust.—v.i. to waste away.—adj. Consum′able.—adv. Consum′edly, exceedingly—originally a fantastic variant of confoundedly, and prob. influenced in meaning by consummately.—ns. Consum′er, as opposed to producer, he who uses an article produced; Consum′ing, wasting or destroying. [L. consum-ĕre, to destroy—con, sig. completeness, sum-ĕre, sumptum, to take.]

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'consume' in Verbs Frequency: #738

How to pronounce consume?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say consume in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of consume in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of consume in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of consume in a Sentence

1. Professor Martin Tangney:

   I see the whole energy thing as a matrix where there will be lots of different renewable energy forms coming in to replace oil, which won't happen like-for-like overnight, for me butanol should be integrated into the existing structure. We have no intention of developing a brand new infrastructure with our own filling stations and everything. We would bring it in as a blend and distribute it so the consumer sees no difference in their day-to-day activity but they are in fact helping the planet and reducing the amount of oil we consume by putting this into our cars.

2. Joaquin Phoenix:

   The meat and dairy industry is the third leading cause of climate change, there is something that you can do today, right now and tomorrow by making your choice about what you consume.

3. Annie Chow:

   It made me realize I needed to shop more at the farmers market, consume less things and buy less plastic.

4. George Bernard Shaw:

   We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.

5. Leon Bruner:

   Like others inside and outside of government, we believe additional work is needed to determine the acceptable range of sodium intake for optimal health, this evaluation should include research that indicates health risks for people who consume too much sodium as well as health risks from consuming too little sodium.

Images & Illustrations of consume

Popularity rank by frequency of use