1. The process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating)
   "Proper consumption of nutrients is essential for good health";
   - ingestion, intake, uptake
    
2. Involving the lungs with progressive wasting of the body
   "The patient with consumption experienced chronic coughing and significant weight loss";
   - pulmonary tuberculosis, phthisis [archaic], wasting disease, white plague
    
3. (economics) the utilization of economic goods to satisfy needs or in manufacturing
   "the consumption of energy has increased steadily"; "the economic consumption of energy has increased steadily";
   - economic consumption, usance [archaic], use, use of goods and services
    
4. The act of consuming something
   "The consumption of natural resources is a growing concern";
   - using up, expenditure
    
5. The amount or manner in which something is used or consumed
   "The company monitored electricity consumption to improve energy efficiency";
   - usage, expenditure

Derived forms: consumptions

Type of: activity, bodily function, bodily process, body process, demand, depletion, T.B., TB, tuberculosis

Encyclopedia: Consumption