wastage

[wey-stij]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wastage ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

loss by use, wear, decay, etc.

loss or losses as the result of wastefulness: The annual wastage of time due to illness is appalling.

the action or process of wasting: the steady wastage of erosion.

something that is wasted; waste or waste materials: The river was befouled by factory wastage.

Origin of wastage

First recorded in 1750–60; waste + -age

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for wastage

misuse, diffusion, squander, dilapidation, misapplication, extravagance, havoc, prodigality, devastation, lavishness, decay, ruin, ravage, exhaustion, loss, desolation, expenditure, dissipation, wastefulness, destruction

Examples from the Web for wastage

Historical Examples of wastage

All the wastage of meat, such as the frozen chips, belonged to the dog that found it.
White Fang
Jack London
It may be only a further development of the sin of woman, the wastage of her womanhood.
The Truth About Woman
C. Gasquoine Hartley
I do not know; but even this is better than the wastage of the mother-force in life.
The Truth About Woman
C. Gasquoine Hartley
There was no wastage and the pipes connecting the tanks were in good condition.
The Treasure Trail
Marah Ellis Ryan
The wastage from the three mentioned was not uniform, but it was constant.
The Fifth Battalion Highland Light Infantry in the War 1914-1918
F.L. Morrison

British Dictionary definitions for wastage

wastage

noun

anything lost by wear or waste

the process of wasting

reduction in size of a workforce by retirement, voluntary resignation, etc (esp in the phrase natural wastage)

usage

Waste and wastage are to some extent interchangeable, but many people think that wastage should not be used to refer to loss resulting from human carelessness, inefficiency, etc: a waste (not a wastage) of time/money/effort etc

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

Word Origin and History for wastage

1756, from waste (v.) + -age.