Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To take in as food; eat or drink up. synonym: eat.
- intransitive verb To expend; use up.
- intransitive verb To purchase (goods or services) for direct use or ownership.
- intransitive verb To waste; squander.
- intransitive verb To destroy totally; ravage.
- intransitive verb To absorb; engross: synonym: engross.
- intransitive verb To purchase economic goods and services.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To destroy by separating into parts which cannot be reunited, as by decomposition, burning, or eating; devour; use up; wear out; hence, destroy the substance of; annihilate.
- Specifically To destroy by use; dissipate or wear out (a thing) by applying it to its natural or intended use: as, only a, small part of the produce of the West is consumed there; in an unfavorable sense, waste; squander: as, to
consume an estate. - To cause to waste away; make thin.
- To bring to utter ruin; exterminate.
- To make use of; employ the whole of; fill out; spend: with reference to time.
- Synonyms Devour, etc. (see
eat ); swallow up, use up, engulf, absorb, lavish, dissipate, exhust. - To waste (away); become wasted or attenuated.
- To be destroyed as by use, burning, etc: as, the fire was lighted, and the wood consumed away.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To waste away slowly.
- transitive 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.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
use . - verb transitive To
eat . - verb transitive To completely
occupy the thoughts or attention of. - verb transitive To
destroy completely. - verb intransitive, obsolete To
waste away slowly.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb use up (resources or materials)
- verb serve oneself to, or consume regularly
- verb engage fully
- verb spend extravagantly
- verb destroy completely
- verb eat immoderately
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The word consume comes from the Latin con - altogether + sumere - to take up, lay hold of, etc.
David Michael Bruno 2008
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To assume we need to to produce what we consume is no longer true as the entire world stands ready to furnish employment with the level of educational credentials needed.
East Aurora School District 131 | What's the Progress for One of Aurora's Most Serious Challenges? 2009
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Research has shown both companies that most of the water they consume is used for growing ingredients rather than in the manufacturing process itself.
Pepsi takes fight with Coca-Cola into potato fields John Vidal 2010
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The chocolate I consume, and it isn't much that I do consume, is nearly devoid of sugar and definitely contains no friggin 'milk, dag nabbit!
Quick Q&A with Chris Stamp, Winemaker, Lakewood Vineyards 2009
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How hard they have to work to produce what we consume is not fixed.
Taxes and Social Security, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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Here in America, we believe in the right to choose for ourselves on many issues, and what we consume is one of those areas where people do not want the gov't telling them what they can and can't do.
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That abundance of food, of which, in consequence of the improvement of land, many people have the disposal beyond what they themselves can consume, is the great cause of the demand both for precious metals and the precious stones, as well as for every other conveniency and ornament of dress, lodging, household furniture, and equipage.
A Bland and Deadly Courtesy skzbrust 2009
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The Seattle P.I. reports that "two-thirds of the honey Americans consume is imported and almost half of that, regardless of what's on the label, comes from China."
Who's Watching Our Nation's Honey Imports? Pretty Much No One - The Consumerist 2009
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That abundance of food, of which, in consequence of the improvement of land, many people have the disposal beyond what they themselves can consume, is the great cause of the demand both for precious metals and the precious stones, as well as for every other conveniency and ornament of dress, lodging, household furniture, and equipage.
A Bland and Deadly Courtesy skzbrust 2009
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ALL of these have an effect on how the wine we consume is perceived – whether you accept that or not.
Study: points influence consumer perceptions! | Dr Vino's wine blog 2009
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