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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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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 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 The result is fabulously decadent and the perfect recipe for using up oodles and oodles of summer squash. — Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 7 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 Roskopf, however, countered that data centers don’t provide significant jobs, but only provide an additional tax base while using up resources. — Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 2 Apr. 2026 Breakfast Burritos The most flexible breakfast on this list and one of the best for using up what is already in the fridge. — Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 10 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for using up
  1. spending
  2. consuming
  3. playing out
  4. draining
  5. exhausting
  6. drawing down
  7. using
  8. reducing
Verb
  • Recording a good voiceover can mean finding a narrator, booking studio time, or spending hours trying to get a usable take yourself.
    — StackCommerce Team, PC Magazine, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Campaign The two candidates are spending millions of dollars to get elected, and the money is apparent with the high frequency of television commercials, sometimes as often as four times per hour on one station.
    — Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of spending
Verb
  • The manufacturer of NarcX+ states that medications become irretrievable in less than two hours, and consuming any of the NarcX+ liquid will cause vomiting.
    — Sunny Linnebur, The Conversation, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Minhaj’s wife danced competitively, and Venkataramanujam performed with an a cappella team called Chai Town, giving him firsthand knowledge of how consuming the competition circuit can become.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 18 Sep. 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
  • Every night before dinner, my father would perform this ritual—rinsing and draining, then setting the pot in the cooker.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026
  • In fact, many expensive features can turn into money pits, draining your budget without adding any resale appeal.
    — Angelika Pokovba, Martha Stewart, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of draining
Verb
  • 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
  • The dispute has become even more complicated because some members of the 2022 class pursued professional opportunities after exhausting their eligibility under the previous system.
    — Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of exhausting
Verb
  • Some have also had to tap their 401(k) plans to cope with financial shocks, like a 61-year-old who is currently drawing down her $100,000 retirement fund after losing her job in December.
    — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026
  • On the other side of the equation, the United States has released 400 million barrels of emergency oil, vastly drawing down its stockpiles in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of drawing down
Verb
  • Post-reaction analysis using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, or SEM/EDX, also showed morphological and compositional changes in the catalyst samples.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Spain highlighted incentives, investment, talent and infrastructure, while Greece stressed using international productions to build local capacity and training.
    — Anna Marie de la Fuente, Variety, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of using
Verb
  • Shower filters are better at reducing substances like chlorine, sediment and certain metals.
    — Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The Fed’s goal is to slow consumer and business spending by raising the cost of borrowing, thereby reducing demand for homes, cars and other goods and services, eventually cooling the economy and reducing upward pressure on prices.
    — Paul Wiseman, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of reducing

Browse Nearby Words

using
using up
usual
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Cite this Entry

“Using up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/using%20up. Accessed 23 Sep. 2026.

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