exhaust

 
Pronunciation: /ɪgˈzɔːst, ɛg-/

verb

[with object]
  • 1make (someone) feel very tired: her day out had exhausted her
  • 2use up (resources or reserves) completely: the country has exhausted its treasury reserves
  • expound on or explore (a subject or options) so fully that there is nothing further to be said or discovered: she seemed to have exhausted all permissible topics of conversation
  • 3expel (gas or steam) from or into a particular place: you should never exhaust bathroom air into your attic

noun

[mass noun]
  • waste gases or air expelled from an engine, turbine, or other machine in the course of its operation: buses spewing out black clouds of exhaust [as modifier]: exhaust fumes
  • [count noun] the system through which exahust gases are expelled: [as modifier]: an exhaust pipe

Derivatives

exhauster

noun

exhaustibility

Pronunciation: /-ˈbɪlɪti/
noun

exhaustible

adjective

Origin:

mid 16th century (in the sense 'draw off or out'): from Latin exhaust- 'drained out', from the verb exhaurire, from ex- 'out' + haurire 'draw (water), drain'

Spelling help

Remember that exhaust is spelled with an h after the x, even though the h is not pronounced.