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waste
[weyst]
verb (used with object)
to consume, spend, or employ uselessly or without adequate return; use to no avail or profit; squander.
to waste money; to waste words.
Synonyms: , , ,Antonyms:to fail or neglect to use.
to waste an opportunity.
to destroy or consume gradually; wear away.
The waves waste the rock of the shore.
Synonyms:to wear down or reduce in bodily substance, health, or strength; emaciate; enfeeble.
to be wasted by disease or hunger.
to destroy, devastate, or ruin.
a country wasted by a long and futile war.
Synonyms: , , , , ,Slang.to kill or murder.
verb (used without object)
to be consumed, spent, or employed uselessly or without giving full value or being fully utilized or appreciated.
to become gradually consumed, used up, or worn away.
A candle wastes in burning.
to become physically worn; lose flesh or strength; become emaciated or enfeebled.
to diminish gradually; dwindle, as wealth, power, etc..
The might of England is wasting.
Synonyms: , , ,to pass gradually, as time.
noun
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:neglect, instead of use.
waste of opportunity.
gradual destruction, impairment, or decay.
the waste and repair of bodily tissue.
Synonyms: , , ,devastation or ruin, as from war or fire.
Synonyms: ,a region or place devastated or ruined.
The forest fire left a blackened waste.
anything unused, unproductive, or not properly utilized.
an uncultivated tract of land.
a wild region or tract of land; desolate country, desert, or the like.
an empty, desolate, or dreary tract or extent.
a waste of snow.
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.
remnants, as from the working of cotton, used for wiping machinery, absorbing oil, etc.
Physical Geography.material derived by mechanical and chemical disintegration of rock, as the detritus transported by streams, rivers, etc.
garbage; refuse.
Synonyms: ,wastes, excrement.
adjective
not used or in use.
waste energy; waste talents.
(of land, regions, etc.) wild, desolate, barren, or uninhabited; desert.
(of regions, towns, etc.) in a state of desolation and ruin, as from devastation or decay.
left over or superfluous.
to utilize waste products of manufacture.
Synonyms: , ,having served or fulfilled a purpose; no longer of use.
rejected as useless or worthless; refuse.
to salvage waste products.
Physiology.pertaining to material unused by or unusable to the organism.
designed or used to receive, hold, or carry away excess, superfluous, used, or useless material (often in combination).
a waste pipe; waste container.
Obsolete.excessive; needless.
waste
/ ɱɪ /
verb
(tr) to use, consume, or expend thoughtlessly, carelessly, or to no avail
(tr) to fail to take advantage of
to waste an opportunity
to lose or cause to lose bodily strength, health, etc
to exhaust or become exhausted
(tr) to ravage
informal(tr) to murder or kill
I want that guy wasted by tomorrow
noun
the act of wasting or state of being wasted
a failure to take advantage of something
anything unused or not used to full advantage
anything or anyone rejected as useless, worthless, or in excess of what is required
garbage, rubbish, or trash
a land or region that is devastated or ruined
a land or region that is wild or uncultivated
physiol
the useless products of metabolism
indigestible food residue
disintegrated rock material resulting from erosion
law reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect, esp by a life-tenant
adjective
rejected as useless, unwanted, or worthless
produced in excess of what is required
not cultivated, inhabited, or productive
waste land
of or denoting the useless products of metabolism
of or denoting indigestible food residue
destroyed, devastated, or ruined
designed to contain or convey waste products
to devastate or destroy
waste
An unusable or unwanted substance or material, such as a waste product.
See also hazardous waste landfill
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
- ˈɲٲ adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of waste1
Word History and Origins
Origin of waste1
Idioms and Phrases
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.
Example Sentences
The Scottish government is banning "black bag" waste from being buried in landfill from 31 December but acknowledges that there are not currently enough incinerators to meet the extra demand.
When he heard the older people emotionally retelling their stories, sometimes in tears, about how they had wasted their lives, he knew he had to change.
The Bay Area’s White Pony Express salvages tons of food that would otherwise go to waste and uses it to feed the needy.
“It’s not inherently a bad thing these people come from outside the government. It’s that they lack any experience in the methods used to uncover waste and inefficiency.”
The Tory leader also claimed that Scotland had "declined" under left wing parties and that the SNP had wasted millions on "independence propaganda".
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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.
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