consumer

noun, often attributive con·sum·er \ kən-ˈsü-mər \

|Updated on: 17 Aug 2018

Definition of consumer

: one that consumes: such as

a : one that utilizes economic goods

Many consumers make purchases on the Internet.

b : an organism requiring complex organic compounds for food which it obtains by preying on other organisms or by eating particles of organic matter — compare producer 3

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consumership

play \kən-ˈsü-mər-ˌship\ noun

See consumer defined for English-language learners

See consumer defined for kids

Examples of consumer in a Sentence

Many consumers are still not comfortable making purchases on the Internet.

Recent Examples of consumer from the Web

Wu plans different trading boards for digital assets in the financial, manufacturing, consumer and media industries.

— rebecca lurye, courant.com, "How Seven Stars Cloud Plans To Spend $283M In West Hartford," 14 July 2018
Using samples of the cereal collected from stores and from consumer's homes, health officials were able to detect a particular strain of salmonella bacteria in those boxes.

— devon elizabeth, SELF, "Update: There Are Now 100 Salmonella Cases Linked to Recalled Honey Smacks Cereal," 13 July 2018
With consumers and businesses spending more, trucking firms have struggled to hire enough workers to keep goods moving.

— christopher rugaber, Fox News, "US inflation reaches 2.9 percent in June, highest in 6 years," 13 July 2018
Cities, businesses and consumers seeking ways to cut down on waste have shunned the plastic straw, which never completely breaks down and can end up in landfills or polluting oceans.

— lorraine mirabella, baltimoresun.com, "More eateries, businesses do away with plastic straws," 13 July 2018
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned consumers about eating a popular cereal because of salmonella cases in multiple states.

— shelia poole, ajc, "Kellogg’s recalls “Honey Smacks” over salmonella concerns," 13 July 2018
In the real world the intervention is more likely to frustrate investments that would increase competition and benefit consumers.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "Trump’s Merger Appeal to Obama," 13 July 2018
This would simultaneously help advance the president’s climate and clean energy goals while offering consumers a bit of a break while the cost of battery technology slowly came down.

— sean o'kane, The Verge, "Tesla will be the first automaker to lose the federal tax credit for electric cars," 12 July 2018
The deal was finalized a month ago, after a federal judge rejected the government’s argument that the $85.4 billion agreement would harm competition and consumers.

— New York Times, "AT&T-Time Warner Deal Approval Gets Justice Department Challenge," 12 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'consumer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.