consumer

noun

1. One who, or that which, consumes.

   “But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal.”

2. Someone who trades money for goods or services as an individual.

   “This new system favours the consumer over the producer.”

   “Almost two-thirds of American consumers have at least one unspent gift card tucked away in a drawer, pocket, wallet or purse.”

   “A second estimate of gross domestic product, released Thursday, showed that consumer spending was weaker in the first three months of the year than initially reported.”

3. (broadly)The consumer base of a product, service or business.

   “Our consumers are upwardly mobile and middle-class.”

4. An organism (heterotroph) that uses other organisms for food in order to gain energy.