Consume - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms

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SKIP TO CONTENT consume /kənˈsum/ /kənˈsum/ IPA guide

Other forms: consumed; consuming; consumes

"The Freshman 15" describes freshman-year college students who gain about fifteen pounds because they consume way too much lousy dorm food all day long.

To consume a cake is to eat it, the idea being that you ate the whole thing. To say a fire consumed a building is to say that the entire building was destroyed. Consume means to devour, to take in, to use up. The Unites States is often referred to as a consumer society because our economy is based on things being consumed. Whether it's gas, clothes, burgers, music, or anything that we use up as we purchase it, it's something that we consume. If we consume all the oil, there will be none left to burn.

Definitions of consume

verb serve oneself to, or consume regularly synonyms: have, ingest, take, take in see moresee less antonyms: abstain choose not to partake in or consume types: show 83 types... hide 83 types... hit consume to excess cannibalise, cannibalize eat human flesh habituate, use take or consume (regularly or habitually) eat eat a meal; take a meal eat take in solid food drink, imbibe take in liquids booze, drink, fuddle consume alcohol partake, touch consume eat, feed take in food; used of animals only fill, replete, sate, satiate fill to satisfaction sample, taste, try, try out take a sample of sop up, suck in, take in, take up take up as if with a sponge smoke inhale and exhale smoke from cigarettes, cigars, pipes do drugs, drug use recreational drugs get down, swallow pass through the esophagus as part of eating or drinking sup take solid or liquid food into the mouth a little at a time either by drinking or by eating with a spoon take away, take out buy and consume food from a restaurant or establishment that sells prepared food victual take in nourishment wash down eat food accompanied by lots of liquid; also use metaphorically dine in, eat in eat at home dine out, eat out eat at a restaurant or at somebody else's home dine have supper; eat dinner picnic eat alfresco, in the open air eat take in solid food fress, gluttonise, gluttonize eat a lot and without restraint wolf, wolf down eat hastily slurp eat or drink noisily swill, swill down drink large quantities of (liquid, especially alcoholic drink) suck draw into the mouth by creating a practical vacuum in the mouth guggle, gurgle drink from a flask with a gurgling sound sip drink in sips guzzle drink greedily or as if with great thirst lap, lap up, lick take up with the tongue tank consume excessive amounts of alcohol port drink port claret drink claret bar hop, pub-crawl go from one pub to the next and get progressively more drunk bib, tipple drink moderately but regularly drink, tope drink excessive amounts of alcohol; be an alcoholic break bread have a meal, usually with company receive partake of the Holy Eucharist sacrament fare eat well dig in, pitch in eat heartily nosh, snack eat a snack; eat lightly peck, peck at, pick at eat like a bird peck, pick up eat by pecking at, like a bird bolt, gobble eat hastily without proper chewing bolt down, garbage down, gobble up, shovel in eat a large amount of food quickly nibble, pick, piece eat intermittently; take small bites of ruminate chew the cuds drain the cup, drink up drink to the last drop mess eat in a mess hall board lodge and take meals (at) forage wander and feed raven feed greedily lunch take the midday meal brunch eat a meal in the late morning breakfast eat an early morning meal banquet, feast, junket partake in a feast or banquet suckle suck milk from the mother's breasts hit it up, inebriate, soak, souse become drunk or drink excessively wine drink wine dip, dunk dip into a liquid while eating binge, englut, engorge, glut, gorge, gormandise, gormandize, gourmandize, ingurgitate, overeat, overgorge, overindulge, pig out, satiate, scarf out, stuff overeat or eat immodestly; make a pig of oneself cloy, pall cause distaste in or weariness of something by providing too much of it degust taste or savor to the fullest extent possible devour, guttle, pig, raven, scarf eat greedily eat up, finish, polish off finish eating all the food on one's plate or on the table devour, down, go through eat immoderately chain-smoke smoke one cigarette after another; light one cigarette from the preceding one puff, whiff smoke and exhale strongly inhale draw deep into the lungs by breathing inject take by injection snort, take a hit inhale through the nose base, free-base use (purified cocaine) by burning it and inhaling the fumes drop take (a drug, especially LSD), by mouth dope take drugs to improve one's athletic performance gulp, quaff, swig to swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught belt down, bolt down, down, drink down, kill, pop, pour down, toss off drink down entirely bolt swallow hastily fill, fill up eat until one is sated carry, hold drink alcohol without showing ill effects browse, crop, graze, pasture, range feed as in a meadow or pasture
verb eat immoderately synonyms: devour, down, go through see moresee less type of: eat take in solid food
verb spend extravagantly synonyms: squander, ware, waste see moresee less types: show 5 types... hide 5 types... dissipate, fool, fool away, fritter, fritter away, frivol away, shoot spend frivolously and unwisely luxuriate, wanton become extravagant; indulge (oneself) luxuriously lavish, shower expend profusely; also used with abstract nouns overspend spend at a high rate fling, splurge indulge oneself type of: drop, expend, spend pay out
verb use up (resources or materials) “this car consumes a lot of gas” synonyms: deplete, eat, eat up, exhaust, run through, use up, wipe out occupy, take, use up require (time or space) see moresee less types: show 9 types... hide 9 types... run out exhaust the supply of drain deplete of resources indulge, luxuriate enjoy to excess burn, burn off, burn up use up (energy) spend spend completely exhaust, play out, run down, sap, tire deplete surfeit indulge (one's appetite) to satiety overspend spend more than available of (a budget) underspend spend less than the whole of (a budget, for example) type of: drop, expend, spend pay out
verb destroy completely “The fire consumed the building” see moresee less type of: destroy, ruin destroy completely; damage irreparably
verb engage fully “The effort to pass the exam consumed all his energy” see moresee less type of: absorb, engage, engross, occupy consume all of one's attention or time

Pronunciation US /kənˈsum/ UK /kənˈsum/ Cite this entry Style: MLA

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Vocabulary lists containing consume

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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act II

This list covers some of the basic words in Shakespeare's play about the assassination of the titular Roman ruler. You can find our lists covering more difficult words here. Here are links to our lists for the play: Act I, Act II, Act III, Act IV, and Act V Here are links to our lists for other plays by William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Hamlet, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream

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