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Synonyms

go to waste

Idioms  

  1. Fail to be used or taken advantage of. For example, I hate to see such talent go to waste, or We bought so much food that some will be going to waste. [c. 1500]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

According to Fareshare's data, around 270,000 tonnes of edible food can go to waste each year.

From BBC

Plaintiff attorneys never let a cultural problem go to waste.

From The Wall Street Journal

If the Bills acted drastically, it was because of a lingering fear that they were letting Allen’s prime years go to waste.

From The Wall Street Journal

It was her second favorite subject, besides how smart Alice was, and how pretty, and how talented, and how it would all go to waste if Gladys Herdman bit her to death.

From Literature

“I mean, it’s nice and all,” he continues, “but the forest will also do its own replanting. These trees won’t let that good soil we’re establishing go to waste.”

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.