consumes

verb

present tense third-person singular of consume
1
as in devours
to destroy all trace of massive fires had consumed hundreds of square miles of forest

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in spends
to make complete use of the mining company consumed all of the local mineral resources and then moved on

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in eats
to take in as food hungry enough to consume most of the pie

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of consumes The company said the design consumes approximately 30 percent less fuel than comparable conventional aircraft. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 22 Oct. 2026 Not every abnormal reading is an emergency, yet every alert consumes clinical attention. — Ayush Jain, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026 Harrison loves this business, consumes it and has terrific instincts. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 19 Oct. 2026 Even with specialized parallel-processing hardware, this consumes immense amounts of energy, and creates a digital traffic jam that can severely limit performance. — New Atlas, 18 Oct. 2026 Nevertheless, the hobby consumes time almost as quickly as the pumpkins consume water. — Cameron Pugh, Christian Science Monitor, 16 Oct. 2026 Someone who orally consumes ketamine would typically begin to feel its effects within 20 minutes. — Christopher P. Holstege, The Conversation, 15 Oct. 2026 When the 6-foot-3, 324-pound nose tackle consumes multiple blockers, that allows Dolphins linebackers Jacob Rodriguez and Jordyn Brooks to roam free and see the high tackle production. — David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 8 Oct. 2026 The combination of social media and streaming created a world where everyone consumes content at virtually every moment of the day. — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 7 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for consumes
  1. devours
  2. spends
  3. eats
  4. drains
  5. exhausts
  6. demolishes
  7. absorbs
  8. depletes
Verb
  • Usually, either a star and its companion mind their own business or the star completely and rapidly devours its neighbor.
    — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 5 Oct. 2026
  • The larvae come from the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly, which invades open wounds or the mucous membranes of body openings in any warm-blooded animal, including humans, and devours tissue, causing the wounds to become increasingly deep and painful.
    — Abraham Tellez, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of devours
Verb
  • Country music star Randy Houser spends a lot of his life on the road, but when the shows are over and the tour bus stops rolling, there's usually one thing on his mind.
    — Amber Harding OutKick, FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Every year, Santos spends months back home in the Yukon as the official sign painter of Dawson City, preserving its history on behalf of the Canadian government.
    — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of spends
Verb
  • The body performs them automatically while the driver listens to music, talks with a passenger or eats a sandwich.
    — Jesse Granger, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Today’s recipe Fresh, crunchy bread crumbs add contrast to this light chickpea and escarole soup that eats like a hearty meal.
    — Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of eats
Verb
  • The weak low-end response drains some instruments of their heft.
    — Mark Knapp, PC Magazine, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Constantly saying 'yes' to everything and everyone drains us of time and energy.
    — Margaret Cirino, NPR, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of drains
Verb
  • That pretty much exhausts the points of agreement between the pro- and anti-Proposition 40 camps.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Instead of occupying both sides with large cooling vents, air enters toward the front of the station and exhausts through the rear.
    — Michael Lydick, PC Magazine, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of exhausts
Verb
  • An $8,000 Ryvid Anthem or a $10,000 Maeving RM1S will deliver broadly similar urban usability, while the $12,500 Zero FXE absolutely demolishes it on power-per-dollar.
    — Utkarsh Sood June 12, New Atlas, 12 June 2026
  • The latest filing demolishes the timeworn claim that DOGE was infiltrated into Social Security in order to responsibly ferret out fraud and overspending.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
Definition of demolishes
Verb
  • Photoluminescence occurs when a material absorbs energy and subsequently emits light.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Plus the formula features a milky serum-like texture that feels featherlight and absorbs fast.
    — Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of absorbs
Verb
  • This depletes the number of gamma-ray photons in this signal.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Dumped into waterways, whey encourages bacterial and algal growth that depletes oxygen and can damage aquatic ecosystems.
    — Edward D. Melillo, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of depletes

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Cite this Entry

“Consumes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/consumes. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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