consumeverb [ T ]
uk/kənˈsjuːm/us/kənˈsuːm/consume verb [ T ] (USE RESOURCE)
C1 to use fuel, energy, or time, especially in large amounts:
Our high living standards cause our current population to consume 25 percent of the world's oil.
B2 formal to eat or drink, especially a lot of something:
He consumes huge amounts of bread with every meal.
More examples
- It's the sum total of what you eat over a long period that matters and not what you consume in a day.
- We consumed vast quantities of food and drink that night.
- Alcohol should be consumed in moderation, and this is particularly true for pregnant women.
- We recommend that this wine should be consumed within six months.
- The defence budget consumes vast amounts of money.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Using and misusing
- adopt
- adoption
- advantage
- avail
- avail yourself of sth
- be/go heavy on sth idiom
- go into sth
- go through sth
- gobble sth up
- heavy
- make capital out of sth idiom
- max
- mine
- unused
- upcycle
- upcycling
- usable
- usage
- use
- wear
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Eating
Drinking
consume verb [ T ] (DESTROY)
If a fire consumes something, it destroys it completely.
be consumed by/with sth
C2 to have so much of a feeling that it affects everything you do:
He was consumed with jealousy.
As a teenager, I was consumed by passion for the boy next door.
See also
all-consuming
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Burning, burnt & on fire
- ablaze
- alight
- burned out
- burnt
- burnt out
- burst
- char
- flame
- flammable
- forest fire
- frazzled
- go up in flames idiom
- incinerate
- inextinguishable
- scald
- sear
- singe
- smoke
- smolder
- spontaneous combustion
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Destroying and demolishing
Experiencing and suffering