use up
(redirected from used us up)
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use up
1. To exhaust or fatigue someone. A noun or pronoun can be used between "use" and "up." All of that cleaning totally used me up—I need a nap.
2. To deplete an entire supply or amount of something. A noun or pronoun can be used between "use" and "up." I can't believe you used up all of my shampoo and just left the empty bottle in the shower!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
use someone up
Fig. to use all the effort or talent a person has. His career simply used him up. I used myself up. I'm done. I can't function anymore.
use something up
to consume or use all of something. Use the flour up. I have more in the cupboard. Use up every bit of it. Go ahead.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
use up
1. Consume completely, as in The kids used up all their money playing video games. [Late 1700s]
2. Exhaust, tire out, as in I'm totally used up from digging that hole. [Colloquial; mid-1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
use up
v.
To consume something completely: We used up all our money on repairs for the house. We used all the gas up before we reached the gas station.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.