waste

[ weyst ]

verb (used with object)

, wast·ed, wast·ing.

1. to consume, spend, or employ uselessly or without adequate return; use to no avail or profit; squander:

   to waste money; to waste words.

   Synonyms: fritter away, dissipate, misspend, expend

   Antonyms: save

2. to fail or neglect to use:

   to waste an opportunity.

3. to destroy or consume gradually; wear away:

   The waves waste the rock of the shore.

   Synonyms: erode

4. to wear down or reduce in bodily substance, health, or strength; emaciate; enfeeble:

   to be wasted by disease or hunger.

5. to destroy, devastate, or ruin:

   a country wasted by a long and futile war.

   Synonyms: despoil, spoil, sack, plunder, pillage, ravage

6. Slang. to kill or murder.

verb (used without object)

, wast·ed, wast·ing.

1. to be consumed, spent, or employed uselessly or without giving full value or being fully utilized or appreciated.
2. to become gradually consumed, used up, or worn away:

   A candle wastes in burning.

3. to become physically worn; lose flesh or strength; become emaciated or enfeebled.
4. to diminish gradually; dwindle, as wealth, power, etc.:

   The might of England is wasting.

   Synonyms: decay, wane, ebb, decline

5. to pass gradually, as time.

noun

1. useless consumption or expenditure; use without adequate return; an act or instance of wasting:

   The project was a waste of material, money, time, and energy.

   Synonyms: dissipation

2. neglect, instead of use:

   waste of opportunity.

3. gradual destruction, impairment, or decay:

   the waste and repair of bodily tissue.

   Synonyms: emaciation, decline, diminution, consumption

4. devastation or ruin, as from war or fire.

   Synonyms: spoliation, desolation

5. a region or place devastated or ruined:

   The forest fire left a blackened waste.

6. anything unused, unproductive, or not properly utilized.
7. an uncultivated tract of land.
8. a wild region or tract of land; desolate country, desert, or the like.
9. an empty, desolate, or dreary tract or extent:

   a waste of snow.

10. anything left over or superfluous, as excess material or by-products, not of use for the work in hand:

    a fortune made in salvaging factory wastes.

11. remnants, as from the working of cotton, used for wiping machinery, absorbing oil, etc.
12. Physical Geography. material derived by mechanical and chemical disintegration of rock, as the detritus transported by streams, rivers, etc.
13. garbage; refuse.

    Synonyms: trash, rubbish

14. wastes, excrement.

adjective

1. not used or in use:

   waste energy; waste talents.

2. (of land, regions, etc.) wild, desolate, barren, or uninhabited; desert.
3. (of regions, towns, etc.) in a state of desolation and ruin, as from devastation or decay.
4. left over or superfluous:

   to utilize waste products of manufacture.

   Synonyms: extra, useless, unused

5. having served or fulfilled a purpose; no longer of use.
6. rejected as useless or worthless; refuse:

   to salvage waste products.

7. Physiology. pertaining to material unused by or unusable to the organism.
8. designed or used to receive, hold, or carry away excess, superfluous, used, or useless material (often in combination):

   a waste pipe; waste container.

9. Obsolete. excessive; needless.

waste

/ weɪst /

verb

1. tr to use, consume, or expend thoughtlessly, carelessly, or to no avail
2. tr to fail to take advantage of

   to waste an opportunity

3. whenintr, often foll by away to lose or cause to lose bodily strength, health, etc
4. to exhaust or become exhausted
5. tr to ravage
6. informal.
   tr to murder or kill

   I want that guy wasted by tomorrow

noun

1. the act of wasting or state of being wasted
2. a failure to take advantage of something
3. anything unused or not used to full advantage
4. anything or anyone rejected as useless, worthless, or in excess of what is required
5. garbage, rubbish, or trash
6. a land or region that is devastated or ruined
7. a land or region that is wild or uncultivated
8. physiol
   1. the useless products of metabolism
   2. indigestible food residue
9. disintegrated rock material resulting from erosion
10. law reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect, esp by a life-tenant

adjective

1. rejected as useless, unwanted, or worthless
2. produced in excess of what is required
3. not cultivated, inhabited, or productive

   waste land

4. 1. of or denoting the useless products of metabolism
   2. of or denoting indigestible food residue
5. destroyed, devastated, or ruined
6. designed to contain or convey waste products
7. lay waste
   to devastate or destroy

waste

/ wāst /

Noun

1. An unusable or unwanted substance or material, such as a waste product.
2. See also hazardous waste

Verb

1. To lose or cause to lose energy, strength, weight, or vigor, as by the progressive effects of a disease such as metastatic cancer.

Derived Forms

• ˈwastable, adjective

Other Words From

• wasta·ble adjective
• wasteless adjective
• outwaste verb (used with object) outwasted outwasting
• un·wasta·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of waste¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; 1960–65 waste fordef 6; (for the adjective) Middle English, from Old North French wast (compare Old French g(u)ast ), from Latin vāstus “desolate, destroyed, empty, immense”; verb and noun derivative of the adjective; vast ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of waste¹

C13: from Anglo-French waster, from Latin vastāre to lay waste, from vastus empty

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. go to waste, to fail to be used or consumed; be wasted:

   She hates to see good food go to waste.

2. lay waste, to devastate; destroy; ruin:

   Forest fires lay waste thousands of acres yearly.

More idioms and phrases containing waste

• go to waste
• haste makes waste
• lay waste

Synonym Study

See desert ¹. See ravage.

Example Sentences

Being on the medications for a longer period of time and eating more vegetables were associated with less food waste.

From Science Daily

Washington wrote in a letter to one of his generals that the goal was "to lay waste all the settlements."

From Salon

In addition to forms of fishing and tourism, the research explored the importance and impact of activities including waste disposal, sand mining, aquaculture, coastal infrastructure development, and antique exploration.

From Science Daily

The same year his showman's instincts saw him swim two miles down the River Thames to highlight opposition to Margaret Thatcher's government policy of dumping nuclear waste at sea.

From BBC

Concerns over safety, cost, and what to do with radioactive waste had sapped enthusiasm for a technology once seen as a revolutionary source of abundant cheap energy.

From BBC

Related Words

• debris
• rubbish
• scrap
• trash