Waste Definition & Meaning

American

British

Scientific

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Etymology

Examples

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Synonyms waste American [weyst] / weɪst /

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.

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.

waste British / 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

"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

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

"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

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

"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 waste Scientific / wāst /

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.

waste More Idioms

More idioms and phrases containing waste

• go to waste
• haste makes waste
• lay waste

Related Words

See desert 1. See ravage.

Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of waste

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. )

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.

After Arsenal's draw at Molineux, Wolves' TikTok account posted a video mocking the way the game played out for the Gunners, highlighting various instances of perceived time wasting.

From BBC

But already the trends are toward renewable power and less waste, including in mines and factories.

From The Wall Street Journal

Whitford was stood down from his cabinet position as member for highways, transport and waste by Reform UK county council leader Dan Harrison in November.

From BBC

His hobbies included cycling, hiking, helicopter skiing, general aviation with a specific interest in sailplanes and ultralights, waste reduction and clean energy and large dogs, according to his website.

From Los Angeles Times

These include everything from rocket blueprints to detailed nutrient-recycling programs involving flies, chickens and human waste.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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

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.