the act or process of consuming by use, waste, etc.; decay; destruction.-the state or process of being consumed, wasted, or diminished; waste; diminution; loss; decay.-a progressive wasting away of the body; esp., that form of wasting, attendant upon pulmonary phthisis and associated with cough, spitting of blood, hectic fever, etc.; pulmonary phthisis; -- called also pulmonary consumption.