Meaning & use
exhaust
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To make someone extremely tired, so they have no energy left.
Grammar: Takes an object: the long trip exhausted us.
Patterns
- exhaust someone
- be exhausted from something
- exhaust yourself
The steep climb exhausted the whole group.
Don't exhaust yourself before the exam.
The heat had exhausted the workers by noon.
verbtransitive
To use up all of something, such as money, supplies, or energy.
Grammar: Takes an object: we exhausted our savings.
Patterns
- exhaust supplies
- exhaust resources
- exhaust patience
We had exhausted our food supplies by the third day.
The long delay exhausted everyone's patience.
The country's oil reserves may be exhausted within decades.
noununcountable
The waste gases and fumes that come out of an engine.
Grammar: Uncountable when referring to the gases themselves; countable when referring to the pipe or system.
Patterns
- car exhaust
- exhaust fumes
- exhaust pipe
The car's exhaust smelled strongly of gasoline.
Exhaust from factories can harm air quality.
She stood behind the bus and breathed in the exhaust.
nouncountable
The pipe or system that carries waste gases away from an engine.
Grammar: Countable: the exhaust, a new exhaust, the exhausts.
Patterns
- a car exhaust
- the exhaust is broken
- replace the exhaust
The mechanic said the exhaust needed to be replaced.
A hole in the exhaust made the car very loud.
He fitted a new exhaust to the motorcycle.
Word forms
| third person singular | exhausts |
|---|---|
| past tense | exhausted |
| past participle | exhausted |
| -ing form | exhausting |
Common combinations
- exhaust fumes
- Exhaust fumes from the truck made it hard to breathe.
- exhaust pipe
- The exhaust pipe was rusty and needed repair.
- exhaust resources
- The project exhausted all our resources.
- exhaust patience
- His constant questions exhausted my patience.
- car exhaust
- Car exhaust is a major source of urban pollution.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tire
- Tire means to make someone need rest, but it is less strong than exhaust, which means completely drain of energy.
- drain
- Drain suggests using up energy or resources slowly; exhaust often suggests using them up completely.
- use up
- Use up is a phrasal verb meaning to consume all of something; exhaust is more formal and can also mean to tire someone out.
Opposites
Word family
- exhausted adjective
- Extremely tired.
- exhausting adjective
- Making you feel very tired.
- exhaustion noun
- The state of being extremely tired.
- exhaustive adjective
- Complete and thorough, leaving nothing out.
Commonly confused: exhaust or exhausted?
exhaust vs exhausted
Exhausted is the adjective meaning very tired, while exhaust is the verb or the noun for waste gases.
Practice
Choose the best word: 'The long meeting ___ everyone in the room.'
Choose one answer.
Exhausted is the past tense of the verb exhaust and fits the sentence. Exhausting is an adjective, exhaustion is a noun, and exhaust as a verb would need a different tense here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “exhaust”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.