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con·sume Listen to audio/kənˈsu:m, Brit kənˈsju:m/ verb
con·sumes; con·sumed; con·sum·ing
[+ obj] 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 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.
— consuming adjective
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]

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