consume, devour, eat, ingest, swallow
这几个词共同的意思是“吃”。它们的区别在于:eat最常用,指放入口中经过咀嚼再吞咽下去的过程,对人或物都适用,引申指缓慢地逐渐腐蚀或消磨过程; consume指吃完全部食物或喝光所有饮料,引申指消耗光所有的物质、金钱等; devour强调狼吞虎咽地吃,引申指吞灭或毁灭; ingest是生理学用语,指咽下或吸收的过程; swallow指不经过充分咀嚼就囫囵吞入肚中,强调匆忙。例如:
The termites have eaten deep into the wood.白蚁已经把木头蛀得很深了。
The fire soon consumed the wooden building.大火不久就烧毁了这座木头建筑物。
He was devoured by hate.他满腔怨恨。
Twelve workers have ingested radioactive substances well above the permitted maximum.12名工人摄入体内的放射性物质已大大超过最大限度。
This drug can't be swallowed; it has to be injected.这药不能吞服,只能注射。
consume, dissipate, fritter, squander, waste
这组词都有“浪费”的意思。它们的区别是：
waste指任意地挥霍,通常是花费而不见成果; squander的意思比waste强,强调胡乱花费,含有花光而导致贫困的意思; dissipate指因奢侈而丧失东西,犹如随风撒东西一样,强调将存有的东西用光或几乎用光; fritter常和away连用,指一点一点地花费,或花费在不重要的东西上,含有逐渐用光的意思; consume强调吞食或毁坏,但也可指完全浪费或挥霍掉,用于金钱或财产时,指频繁地减少,偶尔用于时间或精力时,指无益地花费。例如:
The council has been squandering the ratepayers' money.市议会一直在挥霍房地产纳税人的金钱。
He dissipated his large fortune in a few years of heavy spending.他在几年的大肆挥霍中把自己一大笔财产都花光了。
She fritters away all her money on clothes and trips to the cinema.她把所有金钱都浪费在穿衣服和看电影上了。
The fire soon consumed the wooden buildings.大火很快就把那些木制建筑物吞没了。
