USING UP Synonyms: 63 Similar and Opposite Words

using up

verb

present participle of use up

as in spending

to make complete use of we used up the last of the flour when we made the waffles

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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 using up Houston put the game away in the third quarter with a 17-play drive using up 8 minutes, 23 seconds. — ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026 Communities are already fighting about data centers raising their power bills and using up precious water. — Moones Alamooti, The Conversation, 9 Oct. 2026 Start using up your dill, then get ready to harvest again when the next plant has leaves. — Heather Bien, Southern Living, 28 Sep. 2026 Flight controllers managed to slow the tumble and stabilize the spacecraft, using up precious fuel. — Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026 If moisture is needed to get things moving in the machine, add the kee lo by the 1 tablespoon, using up to ¼ cup total for a single batch. — Kate Bradshaw, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2026 Emily Weinstein, a researcher at the Center for Digital Thriving at Harvard, says some students are using up to seven different apps to manage everything from grades to sports team schedules. — Charlotte Hu, Time, 22 July 2026 The company claims its models can match or outperform frontier labs using up to 100 times fewer tokens, which are the currency for running AI queries. — Samantha Subin, CNBC, 23 June 2026 This single observation suggests that, during strong wind conditions, each rotor would contribute about 1 MW of propulsion, even when using up its own 20 kW of spinning power. — Srishti Gupta, Interesting Engineering, 21 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for using up

Verb

Originally from Mexico, Casillas immigrated to the United States at age 20 and has now been here for 50 years, spending decades building relationships within the community.

— Sara Rosenthal, Denver Post, 11 Oct. 2026
Later, after Nicole and her mother moved to other parts of the city, Nicole began spending time in Kensington, and Diane eventually moved there to be near her, Halloran-Koren said.

— Danny Freeman, CNN Money, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of spending

Verb

Street style became a bridge between the industry and the culture consuming it, capturing a moment when fashion felt especially connected to the people and communities shaping what came next.

— Alex Badia, Footwear News, 12 Oct. 2026
What began as a rebellion against broken classrooms has become a test of whether France can reconcile its costly promises with its financial reality before the divisions consuming its schools deepen further.

— Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of consuming

Verb

Window closing to find survivors These are the kinds of scenes playing out across La Guaira state, with people milling around in the streets after being left homeless, uncertain of what to do next.

— Fernando Narro Roman, NPR, 28 June 2026
These same dynamics are now playing out in litigation over social media and youth mental health.

— Alex Smolak, STAT, 27 June 2026

Definition of playing out

Verb

Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer previously said investigating video gambling terminal thefts was draining village resources.

— Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
Under President Joe Biden, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Tel*Link to pay $3 million for illegally freezing and draining funds from incarcerated people’s accounts.

— Gaby Del Valle, The Verge, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of draining

Verb

The gentle squeeze around your legs provides other surprising health benefits on exhausting travel days.

— Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 27 Sep. 2026
Commanders should seek positional advantages without exhausting their soldiers, manipulate the enemy’s movements when possible, and recognize when circumstances make pursuit or attack unwise.

— Ethan Teekah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of exhausting

Verb

That money could give the surviving spouse more flexibility to cover living expenses, pay off a mortgage and other debts or avoid drawing down retirement accounts faster than planned.

— Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026
Consumers are drawing down their reserves while interest rates remain high.

— Harvey Stober, CNBC, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of drawing down

Verb

Their role becomes clear at 21-, 36- and 52-Across, where the clues solve to partial entries, which can be completed only by using the entry spaces of those dash clues.

— Sam Corbin, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2026
In a small farm context, that will be to a grouping of farmers that form a producer unit using the same practices in the same climate.

— SJ Studio, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of using

Verb

Recently, the sector has been affected by El Nino, which brings weak monsoons and dry weather, reducing yields and sucrose recovery.

— Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026
Other options include reducing the level of your contributions, although there is a minimum of 5% of pay for employees and 3% for employers.

— Marc Shoffman, TheWeek, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of reducing

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using

using up

usual

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“Using up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/using%20up. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of using up

verb

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