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anchorite
a granular metamorphic rock.
a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.
a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
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Idioms for waste

    go to waste, to fail to be used or consumed; be wasted: She hates to see good food go to waste.
    lay waste, to devastate; destroy; ruin: Forest fires lay waste thousands of acres yearly.

Origin of waste

1150–1200; 1960–65 for def 6; (adj.) Middle English < Old North French wast (Old French g(u)ast) < Latin vāstus desolate; (v.) Middle English < Old North French waster (Old French g(u)aster) < Latin vāstāre, derivative of vāstus; (noun) Middle English < Old North French wast(e) (Old French g(u)aste), partly < Latin vāstum, noun use of neuter of vāstus, partly derivative of waster; Old North French w-, Old French gu- by influence of cognate with Frankish *wōsti desolate (cognate with Old High German wuosti)

synonym study for waste

19. See desert1. 36. See ravage.

OTHER WORDS FROM waste

wast·a·ble, adjectivewaste·less, adjectiveout·waste, verb (used with object), out·wast·ed, out·wast·ing.un·wast·a·ble, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH waste

waist waste

Words nearby waste

wassily chair, wassup, wast, wast water, wastage, waste, waste away, waste disposal unit, waste gate, waste heat recovery, waste land, the
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to lay waste

maraud, pilfer, ravage, desecrate, loot, ransack, devastate, pillage, rob, liberate, requisition, salvage, raid, seize, plunder, scour, gut, comb, demolish, consume

British Dictionary definitions for lay waste

waste
/ (weɪst) /

verb

noun

adjective

Derived forms of waste

wastable, adjective

Word Origin for waste

C13: from Anglo-French waster, from Latin vastāre to lay waste, from vastus empty
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for lay waste

waste
[ wāst ]

v.

To gradually lose energy, strength, or bodily substance, as from disease.

n.

The undigested residue of food eliminated from the body; excrement.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Scientific definitions for lay waste

waste
[ wāst ]

Noun

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

Verb

To lose or cause to lose energy, strength, weight, or vigor, as by the progressive effects of a disease such as metastatic cancer.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Idioms and Phrases with lay waste (1 of 2)

lay waste

Ravage, ruin, as in The hurricane laid waste the entire seashore. Originally referring to the devastation caused by attackers, this term has come to be used more generally.

Idioms and Phrases with lay waste (2 of 2)

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