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

So, get ready for mountain vistas and exhausting cycling days to take your breath away and questions about your life choices to swirl around in your head!

— Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 17 Oct. 2026
On the third bike was Jenny Brookes, Zero's senior global brand manager, who rode a standard DSR/X adventure bike for approximately 239 miles (384 km) before exhausting its battery.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of exhausting

Verb

Still, the recent bout of volatility is enough to worry investors who are drawing down a stream of income from their retirement savings.

— Darla Mercado, CFP®, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2026
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

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

While serving as a public health official, el Sayed wrote an op-ed in 2019 strongly supporting the Green New Deal, arguing that reducing greenhouse gas emissions will help improve public health.

— Maydeen Merino, The Washington Examiner, 15 Oct. 2026
Together, the tools could help accelerate the development of more resilient electric motor systems while reducing the risks associated with critical material shortages, volatile supply chains and rapidly changing global markets.

— Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 15 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 17 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of using up

verb

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