consumptionn.
/kənˈsʌm(p)ʃn/, U.S. /kənˈsəm(p)ʃ(ə)n/ 1. The action or fact of destroying or being destroyed; destruction. Also: an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > devouring (of fire, etc.)
consuminga1398
consumptiona1398
devoration1528
devouring1577
consumation1586
obsorptionc1600
swallow1607
depredation1626
depastion1658
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 267v Salamandra..lyueþ in brennynge fuyre wiþoute consumpcioun and wastynge.
c1475 (c1450) P. Idley Instr. to his Son (Cambr.) (1935) ii. B. 228 (MED) A sodeyn wildefeire fille vppon this clerke, And al to asshis made a finall consumpcion.
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. xv. xv. f. 240/1 The vnstabyl conditioun of mannis lyfe sa suddany alterit. Now flurisand, and suddanly falling to vter consumption.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 1612/2 Christ shall sit..at the right hand of God, vnto the consumption of the world.
1609 Bible (Douay) I. Num. xvii. 13 Are we al to be destroyed unto utter consumption?
1635 E. Pagitt Christianographie (1636) i. ii. 85 The consumption of 12 millions of men.
1667 E. Waterhouse Short Narr. Fire London 6 No culinary fire being so speedy in its consumptions.
1714 J. Macky Journey through Eng. I. ix. 118 The Largest Palace in the World, 'till its Consumption by Fire.
1829 J. Wilson Diss. Priesthood of Christ App. iii. 436 In correspondence with the use of wood in the consumption of every Jewish victim, he [sc. Christ] required to be presented on an altar of timber or on a tree.
1872 T. J. Conant Bk. Prov. i. 131/2 The idea is, the utter consumption of the poor and needy from the earth and from among men, leaving no vestige of them.
1908 Jrnl. Biblical Lit. 27 74 The utter consumption of offerings by burning.
1982 Times 1 June 8/1 The legendary phoenix was reborn in the ashes of its own consumption by fire.
2.
a. Originally: †abnormality or loss of humours, resulting in wasting (extreme weight loss) of the body; such wasting; (obsolete). Later: disease that causes wasting of the body, spec. tuberculosis. Now chiefly historical.galloping, miner's consumption: see first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > wasting disease > [noun] > consumption
phthisic1301
consumptiona1398
phthisis1525
studious consumption1666
consumptiveness1677
colliquitation1720
decay1725
wearing1824
consumptivity1889
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) I. vii. xxx. 375 Tisik is consumpcioun and wastinge of kynde humour of þe body, and comeþ of whelkes and of bocchis of þe longen.
a1425 ( H. Daniel Liber Uricrisiarum (Wellcome 225) 178 If it [is] becaus of consumpcion of þe lunges, þan appere mony smale graynis in þe cercle of þe uryn.
c1460 (?c1435) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 667 (MED) Gold is a cordial gladdest confeccioun Ageyn etiques of oold consumpcioun.
1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth xxxiv. sig. M.iiiv Swete wynes be good for them the whiche be in consumpcion.
1620 T. Venner Via Recta vii. 129 Commended for those that haue the pthisicke, or consumption of the lungs.
1651 R. Wittie tr. J. Primrose Pop. Errours ii. 88 They doe not distinguish the true consumption from other diseases, but call every wasting of the body, a consumption.
1703 W. Burnaby Love Betray'd iv. ii. 41 All my fear was Sir, that if I dy'd here, the serchers would a mistook my Disease, and laid a Courtiers death to my charge; the Gout, or the merry Consumption.
1794 E. Darwin Zoonomia I. 357 That kind of consumption which is hereditary, and commences with slight repeated hœmoptoe.
a1806 H. K. White Fragment in Remains Henry Kirke White (1807) II. 96 Oh! thou most fatal of Pandora's train, Consumption! silent cheater of the eye.
1860 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing (rev. ed.) ii. 39 That consumption is induced by the foul air of houses..is now certain.
1929 A. MacLeish Let. 11 Mar. (1983) 225 A Spaniard named Barrera who was fine with the cape but dying of consumption.
1996 F. McCourt Angela's Ashes (1997) iii. 98 She's very worried about sleeping in beds someone might have died in, especially if they had the consumption.
2007 Guardian 17 Jan. (G2 section) 8/3 Consumption—the ‘white death’, which we know today as tuberculosis—is now once again a deadly threat.
b. An instance or case of such disease. Now historical.
ΚΠ
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) iv. l. 2896 (MED) With a consumpcioun his entrailles brent..He was supprised bi strook of pestilence.
a1500 in R. L. Greene Early Eng. Carols (1935) 272 (MED) The good man is fal in a consumpcyon.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. xlix. 71 Lynseede mengled with hony..is good for such as are fallen into consumtions.
1651 J. Howell S.P.Q.V. 2 She had a shrewd fit of the green sicknes which threatned a consumption.
1672 J. Josselyn New-Englands Rarities 34 They are good for the Ptisick and Consumptions, and some say the Morbus Gallicus.
1700 W. Salmon Pharmacopœia Bateana (ed. 2) i. vii. 269/1 It admirably restores in Consumptions, and eases pains in any part of the Body, whether inward or outward.
1763 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting III. iv. 128 He died of a consumption March 11th, 1702.
1803 T. R. Malthus Ess. Princ. Population (new ed.) ii. x. 331 The consumptions which are frequent among the common people.
1883 ‘G. Lloyd’ Ebb & Flow II. xxxiv. 257 Cure everything, from a toothache to a galloping consumption.
1954 D. Chapman-Huston & E. C. Cripps Through City Archway 276 Mumia (or mummy) was regarded as a most useful remedy for consumptions.
2002 National Trust Mag. Summer 24/2 ‘Worm broth’, for a consumption, was a sure-fire cure for a delicate constitution.
c. figurative and in extended use.
ΚΠ
a1569 A. Kingsmill Viewe Mans Estate (1580) xiii. 105 Christ was sicke of that consumption, even of zeale, to make us an holy house to his father.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Erasmus in Panoplie Epist. 337 Freendly services..ceasing, freendshippe must needes be in daunger of a consumption.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xxxiv. 500 Sometimes the oliue tree becommeth all withered and falling into a consumption.
1612 J. Webster White Divel i. ii. 52 The birds that are within [a birdcage] despaire and are in a consumption for feare they shall never get out.
1744 E. Young Complaint: Night the Seventh 3 Discontent..Incurable Consumption of our Peace!
?1800 G. Ironside Metrical Prolusions Prol. 53 Whole confident presumption Gives his estate a galloping consumption.
1849 L. F. Simpson tr. C. G. Körner Let. in Corr. Schiller with Körner 79 This is the effect of the puppet-show on Meister, the moral consumption of the beautiful soul.
1973 Eastern Providence Herald (Port Elizabeth) 27 Aug. 11 The greatest threat is the Swarthaak thorn bush... The Swarthaak is a sort of galloping consumption of the veld.
3. The disappearance or removal of liquid as a result of boiling or evaporation. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > becoming or making into gas > [noun] > becoming or making into vapour > evaporation
evaporationa1398
exhalation1398
consumptiona1400
vapouring1548
transpiration1562
divaporation1617
exhalinga1618
expiration1626
exhalement1646
perspiration1652
transpiring1670
aerification1790
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 165 (MED) Boile hem to þe consumpcioun of þe iij part.
?a1547 Ten Recipes Henry VIII in Vicary's Anat. Bodie of Man (1888) App. ix. 224 Boyle all thiese to-guether..to the consumption of the waters.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique ii. lxx. 419 Boile them to the consumption of the one halfe.
1675 G. Hartman tr. K. Digby Choice Receipts (rev. ed.) 58 Then put to them and the Oil, a quart of White-wine, and set it over the fire, and boil it to the Consumption of the Wine.
?1701 T. Tryon Way to get Wealth 109 Strain out the liquid part pressing it hard; boil it to the consumption of a third part, so that when it cools it will be like a Jelly.
1721 W. Gibson Farriers Dispensatory iii. xvi. 301 Boil to the Consumption of the Aquosity, that is, till the watry Parts are evaporated.
1739 Topical Med. in J. Sparrow tr. H. F. Le Dran Observ. Surg. sig. Bb3v Boil them in two Quarts of Water to the Consumption of the Half.
1901 S. Potter Handbk. Materia Medica, Pharmacy & Therapeutics (ed. 8) 885/3 Boil to the consumption of half.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [noun] > loss of material
wastinga1425
waste1497
consumptiona1513
deperdition1607
absumption1617
wastage1756
deperition1793
a1513 H. Bradshaw Lyfe St. Werburge (1521) i. xxxii. sig. l.viv In her body resolued to naturall consumption.
1588 A. Fraunce Lawiers Logike Ded. sig. ¶2v The perpetuall vexation of Spirite, and continuall consumption of body, incident to euery scholler.
1677 A. Horneck Great Law Consideration (1704) iv. 148 They will soon bring a consumption on their fortune.
a1711 T. Ken Edmund vii, in Wks. (1721) II. 195 Sleep is an Anodyn by God design'd, To cure each Day's Consumption of the Mind.
1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 441/1 By..continual consumption at both extremities, the middle portion of the older tooth was reduced to a hollow stump.
5.
a. The action or fact of eating or drinking something, or of using something up in an activity.specific consumption: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > using up, expending, or consuming > [noun]
spendinga1430
use1440
consumptionc1522
abuse1539
spensec1547
abusinga1555
waste1569
expense1593
dispendium1648
expenditure1812
using-up1863
c1522 T. More Treat. Memorare Nouissima in Wks. (1557) I. 80 That we daily lese by our inwarde consumpcion.
1581 Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1597) §114 The inordinat consumption..of Drogges, Confectoures and Spiceries, brocht from the pairtes beyond Sea.
1638 J. Penkethman Artachthos sig. Kiij Excessive consumption and abuse of Wheat and other Victuals in voluptuous Feasts.
1691 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense (ed. 8) 152 The consumption of that inspiriting balsamick Nouriture.
1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 64 The Liquor is not mine, but I'll stand by you in the Consumption of it.
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. 165 The constant and immense consumption of the solar light.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. v. iv. 439 There was not rice in the camp for the consumption of a single day.
1863 J. Tyndall Heat (1870) i. §15. 14 I wish now to..show you the consumption of heat in mechanical work.
1922 Gas Manuf., Distribution & Use (Brit. Commerc. Gas Assoc.) ii. 95/1 Lenoir's first gas engine, introduced in 1860, was discarded on account of the excessive consumption of gas.
1953 J. S. Fruton & S. Simmonds Gen. Biochem. xx. 483 Under anaerobic conditions the rate of consumption of carbohydrate by muscle tissue is approximately six to eight times that observed under aerobic conditions.
2004 F. Lawrence Not on Label vi. 208 Industrialized diets encourage the consumption of too much of the wrong sorts of energy-dense food.
b. In extended use, chiefly after for and a modifying word indicating the intended recipient.
ΚΠ
1794 J. C. Cross Apparition! ii. 21 I took myself abroad as a venture, and left my little lass, nothing but a few kind kisses for home consumption.
1811 T. Moore M.P. or Blue-stocking i. i. 2 Why, really, Madam, if all the brains of the country were to be exported through the Admiralty and the War-Office, you would have none left for home consumption.
1893 W. P. Courtney in Academy 13 May 412/3 The public appetite for the consumption of memoirs has been wonderfully sharpened of late years.
1912 W. Owen Let. 29 May (1967) 138 Leslie has just dropped in to borrow a book for Dorothy's immediate consumption.
1964 P. G. Wodehouse Frozen Assets ii. 42 ‘What's wrong with the poor guy?’ ‘He's a mess. Totally unfit for human consumption.’
1996 Daily Mirror 12 June 5/3 This was an internal memo for staff consumption only. How did you get hold of it?
6. Wasteful expenditure (of time, money, etc.).In later use passing into sense 5b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [noun] > waste
waste1297
spillingc1380
consuminga1538
profusion1545
lavishing1574
consumption1613
lavishment1630
frittering1795
uneconomicalness1817
wastry1830
wastage1885
ineconomy1897
haemorrhaging1967
1613 G. Markham Eng. Husbandman: 1st Pt. ii. xii. 94 They are cheaper to the purse, more profitable to the plant, and lesse consumption to the common-wealth.
1691 J. Hartcliffe Treat. Virtues xix How oft they are allayed with the Consumption of a Man's Estate.
1729 W. Law Serious Call ii. 21 The careless consumption of our time.
1791 W. Dalrymple Sequel Life of Christ xxxii. 182 What would introduce a habit of high living, with inordinate consumption of money and time, ought to be avoided.
1859 J. B. Jones Border War liv. 335 [The resolution] will pas nem. con. to avoid the consumption of time.
1985 P. K. Sen Theory & Applic. Sequential Nonparametrics ii. 5 Unnecessary prolongation of the study may lead to consumption of valuable time (and cost), without any significant gain in the efficiency.
7. Economics.† c. Excise duty on consumer goods. Obsolete.
a. The purchase and use of goods, services, materials, or energy. Frequently opposed to production.energy, fuel, oil consumption, etc.: see first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > management of national resources > [noun] > political economy > economic forces or effects
overheating1609
consumption1662
supply1744
production1767
demand1776
effective demand1819
employment rate1833
equilibrium1871
opportunity cost1894
bankers' ramp1931
multiplier1936
multiplier effect1937
market forces1942
cost push1952
externality1957
fiscal drag1964
demand-side1975
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > using up, expending, or consuming > [noun] > specifically the products of industry
consumption1662
consumpt1695
1662 W. Petty Treat. Taxes 11 Good accompts of our..manufacture, consumption, and importation.
1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade (ed. 2) 306 The Expence of Consumption of our whole People, must amount to 49 Millions per Annum.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. Introd. 4 Those funds which..have supplied their annual consumption.
1832 C. Babbage Econ. Machinery & Manuf. xiv. 110 Increased price will cause a diminished consumption.
1873 J. Morley Rousseau II. 44 Those middle exchanges between production and consumption.
1926 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 126 23/1 Taxation and reparation payment will tend to prevent any substantial expansion in the volume of Germany's production and consumption.
1996 W. Hutton State we're In (rev. ed.) vii. 178 With the fall in house prices, the ‘feel good’ effect that had been supporting consumption was depressed rather sharply.
b. The amount of goods, services, materials, or energy purchased and used.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading conditions > [noun] > supply and demand or market > demand > consumption
consumption1696
consumpt1756
consumption level1841
1696 W. Killigrew Proposal 8 All the Revenues of the Crown, all our Trade and Consumption, is Security, as well as the Taxes, set to pay the Principal and Interest, and Charges.
1752 D. Hume Polit. Disc. vii. 119 The best taxes are those which are levy'd upon consumptions, especially those of luxury.
1796 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Glamorgan 10 The consumption of coal in the copper-works, is supposed to be not less than 55,000 chaldrons annually.
1837 J. R. McCulloch Statist. Acct. Brit. Empire II. iii. ii. 20 Exclusive of this immense home consumption, we annually export between 11,000,000 and 12,000,000 bushels [of salt].
1863 Brit. Farmer's Mag. 45 508/1 As the average [wheat] consumption in this country was 20 million quarters, it followed that we should have to import not more than 2½ million quarters in the present year.
1936 Far Eastern Surv. 5 7/1 Italian consumption of tin..reached a record of 5,362 tons in the year ending August, 1935.
1947 Canad. Jrnl. Econ. & Polit. Sci. 13 436 Inputs, outputs, productions, and consumptions are economic quantities, and economic analysis is mainly concerned with their definition and relationships.
2001 A. Millan in I. de Garine & V. de Garine Drinking xiii. 161 In 1996 beer consumption was 64.7 litres per person per year.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > duty on goods > [noun] > on consumable goods
consumption1694
1694 R. Molesworth Acct. Denmark in 1692 ix. 100 First, The Customs..Secondly, The Excise, commonly called the Consumption; which is upon Tobacco, Wine, Salt, Grain, etc. and all Eatables and Drinkables brought into any Town.
1727 T. Salmon Mod. Hist. VI. v. 313 The Revenues of the Crown of Denmark [are] as follows:... The Consumption, or Excise of Copenhagen, farm'd at 140000 Rix Dollars. The Consumption of the rest of Denmark at 140000 Rix Dollars [etc.].
1747 W. Douglass Summary State Brit. Settlements N.-Amer. I. iv. 260 In Great-Britain, Taxes are generally of these three Denominations, Land-Tax..Customs or Impost, and Excise or Consumption.
8. Roman Law. Extinguishment (of a right of action).
ΚΠ
1871 E. Poste in tr. Gaius Institutionum Iuris Civilis iv. Comm. 470 The novation or consumption whereby a right of action was extinguished or annihilated.
1901 H. Greenidge Legal Procedure Cicero's Time i. ii. 248 Formal failures in the statement of an action..might lead to its consumption.
1940 Michigan Law Rev. 39 5 By utilization of the Roman law term, speak of consumption; the right of action would be looked upon as consumed, exhausted, by the rendition of judgement.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a. In sense 2.
consumption cough n.
ΚΠ
1661 J. Bunyan Profitable Medit. vii. 19 'Tis not the Feaver, nor Consumption Cough That fears me.
1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 10 Mar. (1837) II. 19 The consumption cough [1966 ed.: Consumptive Coughs], so common in London.
2003 S. Stowe in C. E. Rosenberg Right Living vi. 152 The volume compiled by one South Carolina wife..[lists] the wide range of possible afflictions: consumption cough, whooping cough, bowel complaint [etc.].
b. In sense 7.
consumption level n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading conditions > [noun] > supply and demand or market > demand > consumption
consumption1696
consumpt1756
consumption level1841
1841 Times 15 May 5/1 At 58s. or 59s. the consumption was interminable; and by this measure the Government took security..that the price should not rise beyond this consumption level.
1940 Milbank Memorial Fund Q. 18 134 Measures designed to equalize the financial resources and consumption levels of families with different numbers of children.
2008 W.-B. Zhang Internat. Trade Theory vi. 220 The per-capita consumption levels rise initially mainly because the propensity to consume goods rises and the disposable income does not fall much.
consumption pattern n.
ΚΠ
1936 Jrnl. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 31 136 Comparison of consumption patterns for five distinct degrees of urbanization.
2002 P. Kotler et al. Marketing Moves vi. 115 They adopt data-warehousing and data-mining techniques to deepen their understanding of an individual customer's behavior, emerging needs, and consumption patterns.
C2.
consumption credit n. Economics = consumer credit n. at consumer n. Compounds 1.
ΚΠ
1912 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 75 369 The demand for them [sc. goods] comes (i) from the suitors for productive credit.., (ii) from the suitors for wage-paid labour, and (iii) from the suitors for consumption credit.
1927 E. R. A. Seligman Econ. Instalment Selling I. 141 Consumption credit would denote credit utilized for the purposes of consumption.
1996 D. Hulme et al. in D. Hulme & P. Mosley Finance against Poverty II. xiii. 222 They provide small loans as consumption credit repayable within one month, which can be used for expenditures on food, social occasions or any such ‘non-productive’ costs.
consumption goods n. Economics = consumer goods n. at consumer n. Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > consumer goods
consumable1722
consumption goods1890
consumer goods1901
consumer durable goods1936
current goods1936
1890 A. Marshall Princ. Econ. I. 109 Goods may be divided into goods of the first order, which satisfy wants directly, such as food, clothes, etc.; goods of the second order... Goods of the first order are sometimes described as consumption or consumers' goods.
1941 ‘G. Orwell’ Lion & Unicorn 103 A managed internal economy based simply on the amount of consumption-goods available.
2000 Business Day (S. Afr.) 28 Jan. 8/5 VAT will not negatively affect consumers' pockets because it will be brought in at 15% on basic consumption goods and 30% on luxury goods.
consumption market n. Economics a market in which consumer goods are traded.
ΚΠ
1890 Homestead (Des Moines, Iowa) 17 Oct. 3/1 The exporter desires to buy lower grades [of wheat] that will grade higher in the consumption markets.
1942 Hispanic Amer. Hist. Rev. 22 458 His rubber..found its way to the principal consumption markets of the world.
2000 M. Kherallah et al. Wheat Policy Reform in Egypt v. 75 Cairo, the largest urban consumption market.
consumption rate n. (a) the number of cases of tuberculosis (or a similar disease) as a proportion of a particular population over a certain period of time (now chiefly historical); (b) Economics the rate at which goods, materials, etc., are purchased and used.
ΚΠ
1868 10th Rep. Med. Officer Privy Council 108 Their being better than some other districts in regard of their consumption rate.
1894 Daily Picayune (New Orleans) 13 Nov. 10/2 The presumption that the bread consumption rate of former years is being maintained.
1935 Times 6 June 11/3 A congested area in which the general death-rate was 57.8 per cent., the consumption rate [was] 143 per cent, [etc.].
1999 R. M. Steers Made in Korea xiv. 231 Since it emerged from poverty to become an industrialized nation, Korea has witnessed both a declining work ethic and an increasing consumption rate among its young people.
consumption tax n. Economics a tax levied on goods sold to final consumers.Consumption taxes are usually indirect taxes and include value added tax and excise tax.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > duty on goods > [noun]
tollc1000
custom1389
average1451
prest1472
impost1569
customage1595
averene1625
consumption tax1694
dogana1714
sayer1751
excise duties-
1694 W. King Animadversions Pretended Acct. Danmark ix. 135 The Consumption Tax may not be avoided.
1836 Portfolio Sept. 235 In preparing the import duty tariff, we must principally consider whom that consumption tax affects.
1902 A. R. Colquhoun in Westm. Gaz. 10 Nov. 6/3 The treaty provided for a ‘consumption tax’ on native produce.
2003 D. L. Scott Wall St. Words (ed. 3) 78 Consumption taxes are advocated by many people as an inducement to increase savings in the economy.
consumption test n. a test to determine the fuel consumption of a vehicle or vessel.
ΚΠ
1903 Motor Ann. 155 The consumption test was to determine which cycle would travel the greatest distance on a pint of petrol, at a minimum pace of 15 m.p.h.
1942 Obituary Notices Fellows Royal Soc. 4 188 We went out to make for Professor Ewing a consumption test at 12 knots.
1999 Evening News (Edinb.) (Nexis) 8 Oct. 3 There is a choice of three petrol and two diesel engines, one offering 57mpg on the mixed-cycle consumption test.
consumption trial n. = consumption test n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > testing, servicing, and storage of motor vehicles > [noun] > fuel consumption test
consumption trial1895
1895 Times 30 Aug. 3/6 The cruiser..is to undergo a series of consumption trials on the measured mile in Stokes Bay.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 24 Aug. 4/2 In the consumption trial of the Liverpool Motor Club a 10–12 Humber car..carried off the first prize.
2007 J. K. Layton Lusitania ii. 29 She made consumption trials at 18, 21 and 23 knots.
consumption weed n. chiefly North American any of several plants formerly used as herbal remedies in the treatment of consumption and various other conditions; spec. (a) wintergreen (genus Pyrola); (b) the groundsel tree, Baccharis halmifolia.
ΚΠ
1828 C. S. Rafinesque Med. Flora U.S. I. 72 The P[yrola] rotundiflora, P. elliptica, and P. uniflora, are called vulgarly..Consumption Weed... Empirics employ them..in diseases of the breast, colds, wounds, ophthalmia, bad humours, weak nerves, and externally as blisters.
1849 Trans. Amer. Med. Assoc. 2 794 Baccharis halimifolia..Sea myrtle; consumption weed. Grows along the sea coast.
1972 M. J. Ursin Life in & around Salt Marshes 37 (caption) Groundsel tree, sea myrtle, consumption weed. Baccharis halimifolia... This treelike shrub has large, coarsely toothed leaves.
2002 W. G. Schmid Encycl. Shade Perennials ii. 137/1 Pyrola americana, wild lily-of-the-valley, American pyrola, canker lettuce, consumption weed,..roundleaf American wintergreen.
Derivatives
conˈsumptionism n. chiefly U.S. = consumerism n. 2b.
ΚΠ
1924 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 581/2 Consumptionism cannot suffer drink because in drink men find a substitute for that satisfaction which is in the acquiring of luxuries.
2007 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 22 Apr. 2 d I hate consumptionism. I hate advertising. I hate the low level to which public manners, morals and ethics have sunk.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.a1398