Exhaust: Drawing Something Out Until Nothing Is Left
To exhaust is to use something up completely. The pipe on a car and the tiredness after a long day are the same idea.
To exhaust is to empty something entirely: a supply, a subject, a person. The Latin *exhaurire* means to draw out completely, as you would drain a well. That single image covers an exhausted runner, an exhausted seam of coal and the exhaust pipe drawing gases out of an engine.
- To tire someone completely. *The climb exhausted us.*
- To use up entirely. *We exhausted our savings.*
- To deal with a subject fully. *The topic is exhausted.*
- Waste gas, or the pipe carrying it. *Exhaust fumes.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | exhaust | It exhausts me. |
| Past | exhausted | Completely exhausted. |
| Noun | exhaustion | Signs of exhaustion. |
| Adjective | exhausting | An exhausting week. |
| Adjective | exhaustive | An exhaustive list. |
How it is used in a sentence
- We have exhausted every option.Nothing left untried.
- He was treated for heat exhaustion.A medical condition, milder than heatstroke.
- The report is exhaustive but readable.Exhaustive means complete, not tiring.
Exhausting or exhaustive?
- Exhausting — makes you tired
- Exhaustive — covers everything
- Exhausted — the person, or the supply
- Exhaustion — the state
- Inexhaustible — never running out
From Latin *exhaurire*, to draw out, from *ex* (out) and *haurire* (to draw water). The engine sense is a nineteenth-century use, from drawing spent steam out of a cylinder.
Exhaustive or exhausting?
An exhaustive search leaves nothing out. An exhausting search wears you down. A search can be both.
What is heat exhaustion?
Illness from losing water and salt in heat: heavy sweating, weakness, nausea. Untreated it can become heatstroke, which is an emergency.