waste away

Idioms and Phrases

Lose energy and vigor, become enfeebled and weak, as in She was wasting away before our eyes . [Late 1300s]

Example Sentences

Despite enduring an incurable illness in which muscles waste away, making even eating and breathing an ordeal, Burrow banded with his close friend and former teammate Kevin Sinfield to raise millions for research on M.N.D. and to support people with it, including establishing a care center in Leeds, in northern England.

From New York Times

Those not eaten waste away: Tissues erode, spines drop off.

From Science Magazine

And in the labs, the bandapats waste away and die from sadness.

From Literature

“The last of my kind began to waste away for want of it. There were so few of us, so few—and finally, there was only me.”

From Literature

For one thing, if I ran the obstacle course every night, I’d probably waste away to nothing.

From Literature

Related Words

• abate
• deteriorate
• dim
• diminish
• disappear
• dissolve
• ebb
• evaporate
• fail
• fall
• lessen
• melt
• peter out
• sink
• vanish
• wane
• weaken
• wilt
• wither