wastage

[ wey-stij ]

/ ˈweɪ stɪdʒ /

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.

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Nearby words

Origin of wastage

First recorded in 1750–60; waste + -age

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

Examples from the Web for wastage

In the old days the wastage of wood was not a thing which the master had in his mind.
Chats on Old Furniture|Arthur Hayden
She is quiet, and a little down, though she is anything but prone to the wastage of grief.
The Mutiny of the Elsinore|Jack London
(c) Further, the war proved even more conclusively that the wastage was not worth while.
A General Sketch of the European War|Hilaire Belloc
This wastage was largely caused by "slubs," knots, and other imperfections which prevented an even surface for rubberizing.
America's Munitions 1917-1918|Benedict Crowell

They swallow this, and the seeds or pits pass out with the wastage of their bodies; this is what makes them Seed Sowers.
Citizen Bird|Mabel Osgood Wright and Elliott Coues

British Dictionary definitions for wastage

wastage

/ (ˈweɪstɪdʒ) /

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

wastage

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