Consume Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary (original) (raw)

Britannica Dictionary definition of CONSUME

[+ object]

1

:

to eat or drink (something)

• The dogs consume [=_eat_] a bag of dog food each week.
• They consumed [=_drank_] a lot of beer at the party.

— sometimes used figuratively

• He consumes [=_devours_] 10 novels a month.

Synonyms see: eat

2

:

to use (fuel, time, resources, etc.)

• The new lights consume less electricity.
• She's making an effort to live more simply and consume less.
• Most of our time was consumed [=_taken up_] by the search.
• The car repair consumed [=_used up_] his entire paycheck.

— see also time-consuming

3

:

to destroy (something) with fire

• Hundreds of books were consumed in the fire.
• Fire consumed the building.

4

:

to take all of a person's attention, energy, time, etc.

• Work on the project has consumed his attention for many months. = Work on the project has consumed him.

— usually used as (be) consumed

• The movie tells the story of a woman consumed by ambition/hatred.

• He was consumed with/by jealousy.

• He has a consuming interest in politics. [=he is extremely interested in politics]

• Her all-consuming passion was music. [=music was an interest that took all of her time and attention; music was the only thing she thought about]