- present participle of waste.
wasting
Americanadjective
-
gradually reducing the fullness and strength of the body.
a wasting disease.
-
laying waste; devastating; despoiling.
the ravages of a wasting war.
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wasting
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.
Although his classmates had been using their phones to get information for their studies, they were also wasting time on social media.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
“Discussions of hospice reform should be focused on first stopping any fraudulent activity from wasting Medicare dollars, which would result in greater savings than those identified in this report.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
“Anticompetitive practices are strong-arming our cities, wasting taxpayer dollars, and leaving firefighters without lifesaving equipment,” Banks said separately.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
"The government needs to improve the service's resilience and efficiency, otherwise expanding electronic monitoring risks wasting public money and puts public safety at risk", said Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the Committee of Public Accounts.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
“You dare talk about wasting money! After what you did!”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.
