Dictionary Definition
consume
Verb
1 eat immoderately; "Some people can down a pound
of meat in the course of one meal" [syn: devour, down, go
through]
2 serve oneself to, or consume regularly; "Have
another bowl of chicken soup!"; "I don't take sugar in my coffee"
[syn: ingest, take in, take, have] [ant: abstain]
4 destroy completely; "The fire consumed the
building"
5 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" [syn: eat up, use up, eat, deplete, exhaust, run through,
wipe
out]
6 engage fully; "The effort to pass the exam
consumed all his energy"
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
From consumere.Pronunciation
- (UK): /kənˈsjuːm/, /k@n"sju:m/
- (US): , /kənˈsuːm/, /k@n"su:m/
Verb
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to use
- Czech: spotřebovat
- Dutch: consumeren, verbruiken
- Finnish: kuluttaa
- French: consommer
- Hebrew: לצרוך (litzrokh)
- Irish: caith
- Italian: consumare
- Norwegian: forbruke
to eat
- Dutch: consumeren
- Finnish: kuluttaa, syödä
- French: consommer
- Hebrew: לצרוך (litzrokh)
- Irish: caith
- Italian: consumare
- Norwegian: fortære
to occupy
- Dutch: bezighouden, verteren
- Finnish: kuluttaa, kalvaa
to destroy completely
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Sanforize, abate, ablate, absorb, annihilate, assimilate, atomize, atrophy, attenuate, bate, be eaten away, bestow, bleed white, blow, break up, bring to ruin, burn
down, burn up, come apart, condemn, confound, consecrate to,
consume away, corrode,
crack up, cremate,
crumble, crumble into
dust, damn, deal
destruction, decay,
decimate, decline, decompose, decrease, dedicate to, deliquesce, demolish, deplete, depreciate, depredate, desolate, despoil, destroy, devastate, devote, devour, die away, digest, diminish, disintegrate, disjoin, disorganize, dispatch, dispose of, dissipate, dissolve, dive, do in, down, drain, drain of resources, dribble
away, drink up, drop, drop
off, dry up, dwindle,
eat, eat up, ebb, emacerate, emaciate, employ, engorge, engross, erode, exhaust, expend, fall, fall away, fall off, fall to
pieces, finish, finish
off, fission, fritter
away, get away with, get down, give over to, give to, gobble, gobble up, gorge, gulp, gulp down, gut, gut with fire, guzzle, havoc, impoverish, incendiarize, incinerate, ingest, inhale, languish, lavish, lay in ruins, lay waste,
lessen, let up, lose, macerate, melt away, molder, obsess, occupy, overcome, overwhelm, parch, pass, pine away, plummet, plunge, polish off, preoccupy, preshrink, punish, put away, put down, put
in, ravage, raze, reduce, reduce to ashes, ruin, ruinate, run low, run to seed,
run to waste, sag, sear, sew up, shift, shipwreck, shrink, shrivel, sink, spend, spill, split, squander, subside, suck dry, surround, swallow, swallow up, swill, tail off, take down, take
in, thin, throw away, throw
into disorder, total, tuck
in, unleash destruction, unleash the hurricane, upheave, use up, vandalize, vaporize, wane, waste, waste away, wear, wear away, wear out, weazen, while, while away, wile, wither, wither away, wizen, wolf, wrack, wreak havoc, wreck