waste

[weyst]

verb (used with object)

wasted, wasting 

1. to consume, spend, or employ uselessly or without adequate return; use to no avail or profit; squander.

   to waste money; to waste words.

   Synonyms: expend, fritter away, dissipate, misspend
   Antonyms: save

2. to fail or neglect to use.

   to waste an opportunity.

3. to destroy or consume gradually; wear away.

   The waves waste the rock of the shore.

   Synonyms: erode

4. to wear down or reduce in bodily substance, health, or strength; emaciate; enfeeble.

   to be wasted by disease or hunger.

5. to destroy, devastate, or ruin.

   a country wasted by a long and futile war.

   Synonyms: despoil, spoil, sack, plunder, pillage, ravage

6. Slang.,  to kill or murder.

verb (used without object)

wasted, wasting 

1. to be consumed, spent, or employed uselessly or without giving full value or being fully utilized or appreciated.

2. to become gradually consumed, used up, or worn away.

   A candle wastes in burning.

3. to become physically worn; lose flesh or strength; become emaciated or enfeebled.

4. to diminish gradually; dwindle, as wealth, power, etc..

   The might of England is wasting.

   Synonyms: decay, wane, ebb, decline

5. to pass gradually, as time.

noun

1. useless consumption or expenditure; use without adequate return; an act or instance of wasting.

   The project was a waste of material, money, time, and energy.

   Synonyms: dissipation

2. neglect, instead of use.

   waste of opportunity.

3. gradual destruction, impairment, or decay.

   the waste and repair of bodily tissue.

   Synonyms: consumption, emaciation, decline, diminution

4. devastation or ruin, as from war or fire.

   Synonyms: desolation, spoliation

5. a region or place devastated or ruined.

   The forest fire left a blackened waste.

6. anything unused, unproductive, or not properly utilized.

7. an uncultivated tract of land.

8. a wild region or tract of land; desolate country, desert, or the like.

9. an empty, desolate, or dreary tract or extent.

   a waste of snow.

10. anything left over or superfluous, as excess material or by-products, not of use for the work in hand.

    a fortune made in salvaging factory wastes.

11. remnants, as from the working of cotton, used for wiping machinery, absorbing oil, etc.

12. Physical Geography.,  material derived by mechanical and chemical disintegration of rock, as the detritus transported by streams, rivers, etc.

13. garbage; refuse.

    Synonyms: trash, rubbish

14. wastes, excrement.

adjective

1. not used or in use.

   waste energy; waste talents.

2. (of land, regions, etc.) wild, desolate, barren, or uninhabited; desert.

3. (of regions, towns, etc.) in a state of desolation and ruin, as from devastation or decay.

4. left over or superfluous.

   to utilize waste products of manufacture.

   Synonyms: extra, useless, unused

5. having served or fulfilled a purpose; no longer of use.

6. rejected as useless or worthless; refuse.

   to salvage waste products.

7. Physiology.,  pertaining to material unused by or unusable to the organism.

8. designed or used to receive, hold, or carry away excess, superfluous, used, or useless material (often in combination).

   a waste pipe; waste container.

9. Obsolete.,  excessive; needless.

waste

/ weɪst /

verb

1. (tr) to use, consume, or expend thoughtlessly, carelessly, or to no avail

2. (tr) to fail to take advantage of

   to waste an opportunity

3. to lose or cause to lose bodily strength, health, etc

4. to exhaust or become exhausted

5. (tr) to ravage

6. informal,  (tr) to murder or kill

   I want that guy wasted by tomorrow

noun

1. the act of wasting or state of being wasted

2. a failure to take advantage of something

3. anything unused or not used to full advantage

4. anything or anyone rejected as useless, worthless, or in excess of what is required

5. garbage, rubbish, or trash

6. a land or region that is devastated or ruined

7. a land or region that is wild or uncultivated

8. physiol

   1. the useless products of metabolism

   2. indigestible food residue

9. disintegrated rock material resulting from erosion

10. law reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect, esp by a life-tenant

adjective

1. rejected as useless, unwanted, or worthless

2. produced in excess of what is required

3. not cultivated, inhabited, or productive

   waste land

4. 1. of or denoting the useless products of metabolism

   2. of or denoting indigestible food residue

5. destroyed, devastated, or ruined

6. designed to contain or convey waste products

7. to devastate or destroy

waste

1. An unusable or unwanted substance or material, such as a waste product.

2. See also hazardous waste landfill

1. To lose or cause to lose energy, strength, weight, or vigor, as by the progressive effects of a disease such as metastatic cancer.

Other Word Forms

• wastable adjective
• wasteless adjective
• outwaste verb (used with object)
• unwastable adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of waste¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; 1960–65 waste for def. 6; (for the adjective) Middle English, from Old North French wast (compare Old French g(u)ast ), from Latin vāstus “desolate, destroyed, empty, immense”; verb and noun derivative of the adjective; vast ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of waste¹

C13: from Anglo-French waster, from Latin vastāre to lay waste, from vastus empty

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. go to waste, to fail to be used or consumed; be wasted.

   She hates to see good food go to waste.

2. lay waste, to devastate; destroy; ruin.

   Forest fires lay waste thousands of acres yearly.

More idioms and phrases containing waste

• go to waste
• haste makes waste
• lay waste

Synonym Study

See desert ¹. See ravage.

Example Sentences

A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said, while they were disappointed the dispute had not been resolved, they would continue to make regular waste collections.

From BBC

“I’ve been on the inside of it — you waste enormous amounts of time just trying to find workarounds to get funding in to stay on schedule,” Hubbard said.

From Los Angeles Times

Everton have played on the front foot in wins against Brighton and Wolves this season, while they were unfortunate to draw with Aston Villa last weekend after wasting a host of golden chances.

From BBC

Nygren-Burkert said trash and urban waste are the main threats to the river and surrounding wetlands but are mitigated by volunteer-led local aquarium monitoring and wetland restoration efforts.

From Los Angeles Times

Food waste makes up a quarter of the rubbish wrongly thrown in black bags and "shockingly" 80% of it could be eaten, a recycling charity says.

From BBC

Related Words

• blow 
• consume 
• deplete 
• dissipate 
• divert 
• drain 
• exhaust 
• lavish 
• lose 
• misuse 
• squander 
• undermine