- (transitive) to eat or drink
- (transitive; often passive) to engross or obsess
- (transitive) to use up; expend
- (transitive) to watch or read (information that has been broadcast or published)
- to destroy or be destroyed by burning, decomposition, etc: fire consumed the forest
- (transitive) to waste or squander
- (passive) to waste away
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
con•sum•ing
(kən so̅o̅′ming),USA pronunciation adj.
con•sum′ing•ly, adv.
con•sum′ing•ness, n.
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026- strongly and urgently felt:a consuming need to be successful.
- consume + -ing2
con•sum′ing•ness, n.
con•sume /kənˈsum/USA pronunciation
v., -sumed, -sum•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to use up;
expend:[~ + object]The minivan consumes a lot of gas. - to eat or drink up;
devour:[~ + object]consumed several six-packs of beer. - [~ + object] to destroy, as by burning: Fire consumed the forest.
- [~ + object] to keep the interest of;
engross: I was consumed with curiosity. - to use or use up consumer goods:[no object]If consumers don't consume, then workers won't work.
con•sume
(kən so̅o̅m′),USA pronunciation v., -sumed, -sum•ing.
v.t.
v.i.
v.t.
- to destroy or expend by use;
use up. - to eat or drink up;
devour. - to destroy, as by decomposition or burning:Fire consumed the forest.
- to spend (money, time, etc.) wastefully.
- to absorb;
engross:consumed with curiosity.
v.i.
- to undergo destruction;
waste away. - to use or use up consumer goods.
- *subs-(e)m-, equivalent. to subs-, variant of sub- sub- + emere to take, buy)
- *subzm-
- *suzm-
- Latin consūmere, equivalent. to con- con- + sūmere to take up (perh.
- Middle French consumer)
- Middle English (1350–1400
- 1. exhaust, deplete. 4. squander, dissipate.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
consume /kənˈsjuːm/ vb
'consuming' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
bot
- consumption
- drink
- faff
- intemperate
- leave
- palaver
- phago-
- red tape
- time-consuming
- beaker
- edacious
- futz
- hump
- interference
- milk sickness
- quasi-consuming
- task
- voracious
- withdraw
- yucca moth
- self-consuming
- sink
- sodium pump