wasten.
/weɪst/, U.S. /weɪst/ I. Waste or desert land.† 3. A devastated region. Obsolete.in extended use.1812 J. Wilson Gen. View Agric. Renfrewshire 26 The extent of excavation or waste, in these mines [the alum mines of Hurlet, Renfrews.] is about 11/ 2 mile in length, and the greatest breadth about 3/ 4 of a mile.
1.
a. Uninhabited (or sparsely inhabited) and uncultivated country; a wild and desolate region, a desert, wilderness. Somewhat rhetorical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun]
westerneOE
weste landOE
wastinea1175
westec1175
wastec1200
wildernc1200
wildernessc1200
wildernessc1230
warlottc1290
forestc1320
wastyc1325
deserta1398
wastern?a1400
wildnessa1513
the wilds of1600
vastness1605
vastacy1607
roughet1616
wild1637
wildland1686
bush1780
wastage1823
mesquite1834
wasteland1887
mulga1896
virgin bush1905
boondock1944
boonies1954
virgin land1955
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 163 Ac seðen hie henen wenden, atlai þai lond unwend and bicam waste, and was roted oueral and swo bicam wildernesse.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3072 Þe barn sco [sc. Hagar] dide drinc o þat wel, In þat wast þan can þai duell.
a1400–50 Wars Alex. 3487 Þare many daies be dissert he dryfes with his ost,..Be wast & be wildirnes & be watirles bournes.
c1450 Erle of Tolous 451 From them he wente into a waste.
c1480 (a1400) St. Martha 21 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 285 In þat vaste scho fand a tovne, þat nov is callit terrascone.
1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 4 But see the Man who spacious Regions gave A Waste for Beasts, himself deny'd a Grave.
1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity i, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 407 North beyond Tartary's extended Waste.
1815 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone v. 81 Among the wastes of Rylstone Fell.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley II. xii. 275 The shadowless and trackless wastes of Zahara.
1855 J. S. C. Abbott Hist. Napoleon II. xiii. 221 Napoleon was now..in an uncultivated country of almost boundless wastes.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 89 Is there no prophet but the voice that calls Doom upon kings, or in the waste ‘Repent’?
1871 J. S. Blackie Four Phases Morals i. 46 Wandering about in a boggy waste.
1885 Athenæum 23 May 669/1 A sandy waste, which is scantily clad with herbage.
b. transferred. Applied, e.g., to the ocean or other vast expanse of water (often waste of waters, watery waste), to land covered with snow, and to empty space or untenanted regions of the air.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > [noun] > an unoccupied space > vast
waste1552
terrain vague1920
1552 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 89 A place caulled vastum vacuum .i. the great waste asmoche to saie as a place voyde or emptie withoute the worlde where is neither fier ayre water nor earth.
1655 E. Waller Panegyric to Ld. Protector 41 Lords of the Worlds great Waste, the Ocean, wee Whole Forrests send to Raigne upon the Sea.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 1045 Satan..in the emptier waste, resembling Air, Weighs his spread wings. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 409 From that dire Deluge, through the wat'ry Waste,..At last escap'd, to Latium we repair.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 309. ¶21 In Satan's Voyage through the Chaos there are several Imaginary Persons described, as residing in that immense Waste of Matter.
1724 A. Ramsay Vision in Ever Green I. xviii Millions of myles throch the wyld waste.
1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. vi. 163 The utmost Extent of the Waste or Expance of Space.
1728 A. Pope Dunciad iii. 80 Where Mæotis sleeps, and hardly flows The freezing Tanais thro' a waste of snows.
a1771 T. Gray in T. J. Mathias Observ. Writings & Character Mr. Gray (1815) 47 The song-thrush there Scatters his loose notes in the waste of air.
1804 T. Moore To Marchioness Dowager Donegall 32 Those pure isles..Which bards of old, with kindly fancy, plac'd For happy spirits in th'Atlantic waste?
1804 W. L. Bowles Spir. Discov. 308 Whose volcanic fires A thousand nations view, hung like the moon High in the middle waste of heaven.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian xiv, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. IV. 388 As these broad black rain-drops mingle with the waste of waters.
1864 D. G. Mitchell Seven Stories 257 A raft is floating upon an ocean waste.
1871 L. Stephen Playground of Europe ii. 81 Showing their bare faces of precipitous rock across the dreary wastes of snow.
1892 M. Creighton Hist. Ess. (1902) ix. 266 The waste of waters which spread on the east..was not sea-water.
1892 F. P. Verney et al. Mem. Verney Family Civil War I. 198 The ‘great level’ round the isle of Ely..was..a waste of water in winter.
c. figurative.
ΚΠ
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xvii. 103 His soul a rock, his heart a waste.
1825 T. Hook Sayings & Doings 2nd Ser. I. 151 If she could at any time..have claimed the smallest spot in the ‘waste’ of George's memory.
1836 J. H. Newman Parochial Serm. III. xiv. 221 The open inhospitable waste of this world.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xxxvi. 299 Miss Brass..opening the safe, brought from it a dreary waste of cold potatoes, looking as eatable as Stonehenge.
1901 Scotsman 15 Mar. 7/4 There still stood between the House and its most urgent business a dreary waste of more than a hundred and twenty questions.
2. A piece of land not cultivated or used for any purpose, and producing little or no herbage or wood. In legal use spec. a piece of such land not in any man's occupation, but lying common.In some dialects the ordinary word; otherwise rare in colloquial use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun] > piece of
waste1377
wastrel1589
wastage1823
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. Prol. 163 Vncoupled þei wenden Boþe in wareine & in waste where hem leue lyketh.
1423 Cov. Leet Bk. 46 The Prioures wast in Hasillwod.
a1500 in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 58 It was graunted to the for sayd Burgeses a wast of ather syde of the town.
1580 in J. P. Earwaker Lancs. & Cheshire Wills (1884) I. 72 With th' appurtennes of and all and singular the said Mannors..moores, mosses, wasts [etc.].
1582 in W. Greenwell Wills & Inventories Registry Durham (1860) II. 54 My house I dwell in,..and the waist adjoyninge upon the same.
1600 in F. Collins Wills & Admin. Knaresborough Court Rolls (1902) I. 222 One waist with two cottages thereupon builded.
1662 in Horsfield Hist. Lewes (1824) I. 179 Times for the putting the tenants cattle into the common pastures, wastes, and commons of the manor.
1727 E. Laurence Duty of Steward 59 That they do not encroach upon the Lord's Waste, by digging Stone, Sand, &c.
1786 J. Roberts Life 60 [He was] permitted to keep six or seven cows upon the waste.
1799 A. Young Gen. View Agric. County Lincoln 147 At Leak and Wrangle there are some wastes, which the cottagers sometimes take in, and cultivate potatoes.
1820 Starkie Rep. Cases N.P. II. 464 It was contended on his part, that the locus in quo belonged to Lady Smith in right of her manor, as being part of the wastes of that manor.
1828 R. V. Barnewall & C. Cresswell Rep. Cases King's Bench 7 305 It was contended, that as the adjoining land belonged to Roberts, the primâ facie presumption was that the waste between his land and the high road belonged also to him.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Northern Farmer: Old Style vii, in Enoch Arden, etc. 131 An' I 'a stubb'd Thornaby waäste.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Northern Farmer: Old Style x, in Enoch Arden, etc. 133 Dubbut looäk at the waäste: theer warn't not feäd for a cow: Nowt at all but bracken an' fuzz.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 40 Behind, With one small gate that open'd on the waste, Flourish'd a little garden.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun] > made waste
spoil1609
waste1611
ruinate1774
wastage1823
1611 Bible (King James) Isa. lxi. 4 They shall build the olde wastes, they shall raise vp the former desolations. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis x, in tr. Virgil Wks. 515 All the leafie Nation sinks at last; And Vulcan rides in Triumph o're the Wast.
4. Coal Mining. A disused working; a part of a mine from which the coal has been extracted.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > working face or place > disused
old man1653
waste1695
guag1778
1695 Reg. St. Andrew's Church Newcastle 24 Apr. in J. Brand Hist. & Antiq. Newcastle (1789) II. 501 [Two men] were drowned in a coal-pitt..by the breaking in of water from an old waste.
1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 10 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) There is this and that Invention found out to draw out all great old Waists, or Drowned Collieries.
1774 Ann. Reg. 1773 151 The foul air in an old waste of a colliery..took fire, and breaking down the barrier..between the waste and the working pit, made the most terrible explosions.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 990 In collieries which..have goaves, creeps, or crushed wastes, the disengagement of the fire-damp from these recesses is much influenced by the state of atmospheric pressure.
1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 64/2 The space from which the entire quantity of coal has been removed is known in different districts as the ‘goaf’, ‘gob’, or ‘waste’.
1911 Act 1 & 2 George V c. 50 § 52 (2) Props shall not be withdrawn from the waste or goaf..otherwise than by means of a safety contrivance.
II. Action or process of wasting.figurative.1679 J. Owen Χριστολογια xvii. 283 Yet the whole inheritance..is eternally secured for us, and we are..preserved from such offences against the supream Lord, or committing any such wasts, as should cast us out of our possession.
5. Proverb.1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. ii. sig. Aiii Haste maketh waste.a1591 H. Smith Rebellion Ionah in 6 Serm. (1594) 99 It is good that men looke before they leape, hast makes wast.1656 R. Sanderson 20 Serm. 270 But haste maketh waste, we say.1736 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum (ed. 2) at Waste Wilful Waste makes woful Want.1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 347 Since there has been less haste there has been less waste.† c. (words of) waste: useless talk. Obsolete.† d. Wasted labour. Obsolete.† e. in waste, in vain, to no purpose. Obsolete.
a. Useless expenditure or consumption, squandering (of money, goods, time, effort, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [noun] > waste
waste1297
spillingc1380
consuminga1538
profusion1545
lavishing1574
consumption1613
lavishment1630
frittering1795
uneconomicalness1817
wastry1830
wastage1885
ineconomy1897
haemorrhaging1967
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 7725 Þulke festes he wolde holde so nobliche Wiþ so gret prute & wast & so richeliche Þat [etc.].
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 7261 Rere sopers yn pryuyte, With glotonye, echone þey be; And þyr ys moche waste ynne, And gadryng of ouþer synne.
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 15 Þouȝ þei hem self han neuere so muche wast of mete and drynk.
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 60 For aȝenst cristis wilful pouert þei techen in dede worldly coueitise & moche wast in worldly goodis.
c1386 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale ⁋813 Men oughten eschue fool largesse that men clepen wast.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 252 And till þaim speke i alþermast þat ledis þair liues in mekil wast.
1411–12 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 521 Now wold god þe waast of cloth & pryde Y-put were in exyl perpetuel.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 47 Grete wast was not in his hous of sotil metes.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. MMMviii They consumeth superfluously and spendeth in waste, in one day, the goodes that wolde suffice and serue for their necessite, many dayes.
?1533 G. Du Wes Introductorie for to lerne Frenche sig. Ci Waste, prodigalité.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. ii. 142 Your meanes are very slender, and your waste is great. View more context for this quotation
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 218 They may not bury the corps in silke or needle-worke..for this were waste, and a worke of the Gentiles.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iii. i. 129 Clocke strikes. The clocke vpbraides me with the waste of time.
1673 J. Milton Sonnets xii, in Poems (new ed.) 57 For all this wast of wealth, and loss of blood.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis x, in tr. Virgil Wks. 536 Why these insulting Words, this waste of Breath, To Souls undaunted, and secure of Death?
1812 H. Smith & J. Smith Rejected Addr. 14 Your debts mount high—ye plunge in deeper waste.
1851 C. Kingsley Yeast xiii. 258 Everywhere waste! Waste of manure, waste of land, waste of muscle, waste of brain, waste of population—and we call ourselves the workshop of the world!
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House lvii. 546 All this was done with the greatest dispatch, and without the waste of a moment.
1881 T. H. Huxley Sci. & Culture 246 The maxim that metaphysical inquiries are barren of result, and that the serious occupation of the mind with them is a mere waste of time and labour.
b. Phrases, to make, †do waste, to be wasteful.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (intransitive)] > be wasteful
to make, do waste1390
waste1390
wanton1646
to throw the baby out with the bath1860
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 139 I bidde noght that thou do wast, Bot hold largesce in his mesure.
c1475 Lytylle Childrenes Lytil Bk. (Egerton 1995) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 20 Loke þou doo noo waste.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Siege & Conqueste Jerusalem (1893) xciii. 144 But they made grete waast & more than neded, & so by their oultrage & folye they lacked in short tyme.
1854 C. Patmore Betrothal in Angel in House 138 Long lease of his low mind befall The man who, in his wilful gust, Makes waste for one, to others all Discourteous, frigid, and unjust!
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > empty, idle talk > [noun]
windc1290
trotevalea1300
follyc1300
jangle1340
jangleryc1374
tongue1382
fablec1384
clapa1420
babbling?c1430
clackc1440
pratinga1470
waste?a1475
clattera1500
trattle1513
babble?a1525
tattlea1529
tittle-tattlea1529
chatc1530
babblery1532
bibble-babble1532
slaverings1535
trittle-trattle1563
prate?1574
babblement1595
pribble-prabble1595
pribble1603
morologya1614
pibble-pabblea1616
sounda1616
spitter-spatter1619
argology1623
vaniloquence1623
vaniloquy1623
drivelling1637
jabberment1645
blateration1656
onology1670
whittie-whattiea1687
stultiloquence1721
claver1722
blether1786
havera1796
jaunder1796
havering1808
slaver1825
yatter1827
bugaboo1833
flapdoodle1834
bavardage1835
maunder1835
tattlement1837
slabber1840
gup1848
faddle1850
chatter1851
cock1851
drivel1852
maundering1853
drooling1854
windbaggery1859
blither1866
javer1869
mush1876
slobber1886
guff1888
squit1893
drool1900
macaroni1924
jive1928
natter1943
shtick1948
old talk1956
yack1958
yackety-yack1958
ole talk1964
Haigspeak1981
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1879) VII. 187 The erle perceyvynge that he hade spoken wordes of waste [L. se superflua dixisse].
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. ii. 16 Yei, yei, thou iangyls waste!
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 2547 Why fader..are yo so fer troublet At his wordys of waste, & his wit febill?
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [noun] > unprofitable or useless labour
unspeeda1400
wastec1400
labour in vaina1470
c1400 Laud Troy Bk. 2908 Thei armed hem with mochel haste; But sekirly it was but waste, For thei of Troye were mo than thai,..And sclow hem foule, when thei were met.
c1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 6672 Folow noo ferthir, for it is waste.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > in vain [phrase]
in (or on) idlenessc825
in (earlier on, an) idlec1000
in idleshipa1250
in vaina1300
over tomeheda1300
(all) for noughtc1300
in waste1340
in deveyn(ec1400
to little availc1450
without availc1450
in fruster1488
to good (also great, some, little, no, etc.) purpose1525
for nothing1560
sans fail1597
for vaina1616
1340–70 Alisaunder 905 But all his werk was in waste.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 82 He spilleth many a word in wast That schal with such a poeple trete.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 21 He presupposith tho gouernauncis, vertues, and trouthis to be bifore knowen of tho same men, and ellis in waast he schulde so speke to tho men of hem not bifore knowen.
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 1232 Beryn..Axid aftir clothis; but it was al in wast.
c1480 (a1400) St. Lucy 280 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 395 Bot al ves in wast þai wrocht.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vi. l. 920 Than Wallace said, ‘In waist is that trawaill’.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid v. viii. 24 Ther hardy Kempis all in waist let draw, Athir at vthir, mony rowtis gret.
1553 J. Brende tr. Q. Curtius Rufus Hist. ix. f. 185 Me thinkes I..go about in waste to sturre vp your vnwilling and vnmoueable myndes.
a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) iv. v. sig. G.jv While my life shall last, For my friende Goodlucks sake ye shall not sende in wast.
1561 T. Hoby in tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer Ep. Translatour sig. A.iii Whatsoeuer I shoulde write therein, were but labour in waste.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 681 He thought to spende no lenger tyme in waste.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. x. sig. Mm2v [She] Laught at his foolish labour spent in waste.
1725 I. Watts Logick i. vi. §3 So foolish and lavish are we, that too often we use some words in mere waste, and have no ideas for them.]
f. A profusion, lavish abundance of something.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > [noun] > profuseness, luxuriousness, or lushness > a profusion or lavish abundance
profusion1652
waste1725
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. vi. 356 And there the garden yields a waste of flow'rs.
1831 W. Scott Count Robert iii, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. I. 92 Cooling the fragrant breeze which breathed from the flowers and shrubs, that were so disposed as to send a waste of sweets around.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Brook in Maud & Other Poems 111 Poor Philip, of all his lavish waste of words Remains the lean P. W. on his tomb.
g. An instance or example of wasting.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [noun] > waste > instance or example of
waste1612
1612 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 73 Prefaces, and passages, and excusations, and other speeches of reference to the person, are great wastes of time.
a1657 W. Higford Instit. or Advice to Grandson (1658) 6 Use Parsimony betimes before a wast be made, for Seneca tells you, Sera est in fundo Parsimonia.
a1657 W. Higford Instit. or Advice to Grandson (1658) 9 Riches may be well compared unto Cisternes or Pooles, which a small stream will easily fill, if there be no leaks or wasts, but small wasts and expences continuing, and not prevented, have decieved [sic], and undone many.
1658 R. Allestree Pract. Christian Graces; or, Whole Duty of Man viii. §12. 187 This is a waste of that which is much more precious, our time.
1780 Mirror No. 79. ⁋1 But to win them by offices of kindness, or attach them by real services, they consider as a fruitless waste of time.
1867 C. Dilke in S. Gwynn & G. M. Tuckwell Life Sir C. W. Dilke (1917) I. vii. 76 You think it a waste of money for me to contest Chelsea.
1909 Daily Chron. 4 Mar. 7/5 The economical woman..keeps a close watch for the small wastes that eat up more principal than the big purchases.
1920 G. K. Chesterton Uses of Diversity 54 He is somewhat anticlerical; which seems a waste of talent in a country where there is no clericalism.
6. † b. plural. Ravages. Obsolete.† c. concrete. Something wasted or destroyed. Obsolete.
a. Destruction or devastation caused by war, floods, conflagrations, etc. Now rare or Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > devastation or desolation
harryingc900
harrowingc1000
wastinga1300
destructionc1330
harryc1330
wastenessa1382
wastitya1382
desolation1382
unroningnessa1400
wrackc1407
exile1436
havoc1480
hership1487
vastation1545
vastitude1545
sackc1550
population1552
waste1560
ravishment1570
riotingc1580
pull-down1588
desolating1591
degast1592
devastation1603
ravage1611
wracking1611
ravagement1766
herriment1787
carnage1848
wastage1909
enhavocking-
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccccxxxiijv He would doubtlesse haue made an horrible destruction and waste through oute all Germany.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. vi. xxix. 145 It was the Ægyptians warres and not the Romanes that gave the wast to Æthyopia. [L. Nec tamen arma Romana ibi solitudinem fecerunt.]
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) iii. iii. 101 What is it then to me, if impious Warre..Doe..all fell feats, Enlynckt to wast and desolation? View more context for this quotation
1657 R. Austen Treat. Fruit-trees (ed. 2) Ep. Ded. sig. a3 There having been..so great a wast, and destruction of Wood.
1768–74 A. Tucker Light of Nature (1834) II. 304 Were charity..to be the prevailing humour in the world, it would..turn industry into its proper channel, where it would not overflow to make waste and do mischief, nor be lost among the barren sands of whimsy.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xviii. 223 In three years they had committed such waste on their native land as thirty years of English intelligence and industry would scarcely repair.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 84 When since had flood, fire, earthquake, thunder, wrought Such waste and havock as the idolatries Which [etc.].
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > devastation or desolation > ravages
wastes1615
ravagea1627
ravagement1649
depredation1663
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey iv. 242 This City doth welnigh ioyne to the skirts of Ætna... The eiected flames haue heretofore committed horrible wasts.
1736 I. H. Browne Pipe of Tobacco 30 While Wastes of War deform the teeming Coast.
1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) civ. vii Pleas'd with the Work of thy own Hands, Thou dost the Wastes of Time repair.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > devastation or desolation > that which is ravaged
waste1609
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets xii. sig. B3v Then of thy beauty do I question make That thou among the wastes of time must goe. View more context for this quotation
1642 J. Suckling Discontented Colonell iii. sig. E 4 Shal..This pretious Lovelinesse, Passe with other common things Among the wasts of time?
7. Law. ‘Any unauthorized act of a tenant for a freehold estate not of inheritance, or for any lesser interest, which tends to the destruction of the tenement, or otherwise to the injury of the inheritance’ (Pollock, Law of Torts, 1887, p. 285). writ of waste (= Anglo-Norman bref de wast), a writ commanding the sheriff to inhibit a tenant from an act of waste. year, day, and waste: see year, day, and waste at year n. Phrases 5b(b).impeachment of waste: see impeachment n. 4b.For examples of Anglo-Norman wast in this use see Rolls of Parl. I. 9/1 (1278), II. 40/1 (1330), II. 170/2 (1347).
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > specific offences > [noun] > illegal acts of tenant
waste1414
estrepement1503
strip1516
society > law > administration of justice > process, writ, warrant, or order > [noun] > writ > other writs compelling or empowering sheriff
withernam1292
exigenta1325
scire facias1445
fieri-facias?1463
distringas1467
compulsorya1513
praemunirea1529
writ of waste1528–30
exigi facias1589
liberate1590
justicies1592
peremptory1606
pone1607
pone per vadium1607
levari faciasa1625
letters (or commissions) of fire and sword1678
1414 Rolls of Parl. IV. 60/2 Moreover, to enqueren what wast was made in the Kynges Maners, fro the tyme of Kyng John.. into that day.
c1450 Godstow Reg. 317 Hit shold not be lawfull to the same sir william..to cast downe ony treys, noþere to make wast, sellyng or distroiyng, with~in the terme abouesaid, but for housebote.
c1475–80 in Oxf. Stud. Soc. & Legal Hist. (1914) IV. 225 In an accon of waste suyd..before the kinges Justices..for brennyng of a water Mill.
1503–4 Act 19 Hen. VII c. 33 Preamble, The said Dame Cicile shuld not be therof impeched of Wast.
1528–30 tr. T. Littleton Tenures (new ed.) f. vi In suche case if the lesse make wast, the lessour shal haue agaynst hym a wrytte of wast.
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. i. 53 There be two kinds of Wasts, viz. Voluntarie or actuall, and permissiue.
1651 N. Bacon Contin. Hist. Disc. Govt. 13 The King..leaves the noble Crown of England in the base condition of a Farme, subject to strip and waste by mean men; and crosses the Irish Seas, with an Army.
1651 tr. J. Kitchin Jurisdictions 331 If a house be uncovered by suddaine tempest, it is not waste, but if the Lessee suffer that to be uncovered, that the Timber rot, it is waste.
1771 Ann. Reg. 1770 173 Having caused a man to be apprehended who had committed waste on the estate of the earl of Donnegal.
a1832 A. Polson Eng. Law in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) II. 828/1 The principal incidents to a tenancy in estate tail are, (1) the right of the tenant to commit what is called waste .
1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. ii. viii. 500 Such injunctions include those against waste where a person having only a limited interest in an estate in his occupation, threatens to wastefully cut down timber, or otherwise injure the freehold.
8. † b. The consumption (of candles, etc.) at a funeral or obit. Obsolete.
a. The consumption or using up of material, resources, time, etc. Obsolete as distinct from 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > using up, expending, or consuming > [noun]
spendinga1430
use1440
consumptionc1522
abuse1539
spensec1547
abusinga1555
waste1569
expense1593
dispendium1648
expenditure1812
using-up1863
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 751 He had long maintayned the siege to no small wast and consumyng of hys brothers treasure and riches.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxii. 143 Euill ministers of good things are as torches, a light to others, a wast to none but themselues only.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear vi. 100 Tis they haue put him on the old mans death, To haue these–and wast of this his reuenues.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > obsequies > [noun] > consumption (of candles, etc., at a funeral)
waste1477
1477–9 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 78 For the wast of ij tapres at Caustons obite, iiij d.
1506 in J. L. Glasscock Rec. St. Michael's, Bishop's Stortford (1882) 31 Rec. of Thomas Whepyll for the waste of torches at his wife's burieng, iiijd.
1555 in J. Nichols Illustr. Antient Times Eng. (1797) 141 For wast of the paskall and for holye yoyle, 5s 10d.
1556–7 in Archæol. Jrnl. (1886) 43 175 Paide to the chandler for waste of ye waxe, viijd.
9.
a. Gradual loss or diminution from use, wear and tear, decay or natural process. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [noun] > loss of material
wastinga1425
waste1497
consumptiona1513
deperdition1607
absumption1617
wastage1756
deperition1793
1497 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 300 Deliverances employmentes perusynges losse & wast of the Stuff takle Store & other the premisses.
1514–15 Act 6 Hen. VIII c. 9 §1 The Carder and Spynner to delyver agayn to the same clothier yerne of the same Wolle by the same..true..weight the wast therof exceptid.
1551 J. Williams Acct. Monastic Treasures (1836) 7 Allowaunce..for the waste of souche plate as was..delyuerde..vnto thofficers of his housholde to be daylye vsed.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets ix. sig. B2v But beauties waste hath in the world an end.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §218 Thinne Aire is better pierced; but Thicke Aire preserueth the Sound better from Wast.
1677 W. Badcock Touch-stone Gold & Silver Wares 3 Silver is a Mineral..that will endure melting for a long time in extream heat, with but very little wast.
a1767 M. Bruce Life & Wks. (1914) 182 Each would fondly raise Some lasting monument, to save his name Safe from the waste of years.
1791 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse §90 Workmen..look upon the stone so coated, as not to be in a state of waste or decay.
1801 Farmer's Mag. Nov. 422 An old venerable Cathedral still remains here, in defiance of the waste of time, and the rude hand of reformers.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 272 The odour of all bodies that excite the sensation of smell cannot be given out without a waste of their substance.
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 135 Rounded pebbles derived from the waste of..the older Apennine rocks.
1847 in Aiton Dom. Econ. (1857) 339 The repairs now required are not mere ordinary repairs, but..rebuilding rendered necessary by the waste of time.
1877 T. H. Huxley Physiography 168 Abundant evidence of marine waste may be seen on any visit to the seaside.
b. with reference to animal tissues and structures.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > wasting disease > [noun] > wasting by natural process
waste1398
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) vii. xliv. 257 Yf abhomynacyon comyth of fastynge and of waste of the body, men shall restore that whyche is wasted with meete and Electuaryes.
1691 J. Ray Wisdom of God 187 Which was most providently design'd to repair the wast that is daily made of them by the frequent Attritions in Mastication.
1695 W. W. Novum Lumen Chirurgicum Extinctum 15 Sudden Waste made upon Fat Persons by violent Fevers.
1725 N. Robinson New Theory of Physick 45 Thus far we have consider'd, how our Bodies acquire the Reparations for those Wastes, that are daily expended in carrying on the Laws of the Animal Oeconomy.
1796 F. Burney Camilla V. x. xii. 497 To repair the wastes of strength some time yet was necessary.
1814 J. West Alicia de Lacy IV. 247 It was that oblivion of thought which best repairs the waste of nature, and gives elasticity to the weary faculties.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge vi. 268 Reclining in an easy chair before the fire, pale and weak from waste of blood, was Edward Chester.
1875 B. Stewart & P. G. Tait Unseen Universe §59 Just as no single action of the body takes place without the waste of some muscular tissue, so, it is believed, no thought takes place without some waste of the brain.
c. A wasting of the body by disease; a consumption or decline. Now only dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > wasting disease > [noun]
wasting1398
pininga1450
consumation1551
waste1570
marasmus1574
colliquation1601
marasme1612
decrement1646
wearing1654
unnourishment1662
decline1783
undermining1897
abiotrophy1902
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Qivv/2 Wayst of body, tabes.
1584 T. Cogan Hauen of Health lxxii. 71 Clarie..is founde by experience verie good for the back, and restoratiue in a wast.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xvii. xxiv. 540 In a wast, consumption, or fever hecticke.
c1816 M. M. Sherwood Stories Church Catech. xix. 169 His disease was what the country people in England call a waste.
1878 Mrs. H. Wood Pomeroy Abbey I. 49 Her mother went off in a waste.
1893 ‘L. Keith’ 'Lisbeth vii Your father's family going off one after the other in a waste, and nobody but me to see to them.
Categories »
d. Physical Geography. Material derived by mechanical and chemical erosion from the land, carried by streams to the sea. (W. Suppl. 1902.)
10. Phrases.
a. to run to waste (rarely †to flow at waste): primarily of liquor, to flow away so as to be wasted; figurative of wealth, powers, etc., to be expended uselessly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (intransitive)] > be wasteful > be wasted
to go to wastea1500
to run to waste1511
to flow at waste1641
to fly waste1770
to run waste1814
1511 Pylgrymage Richarde Guylforde (Pynson) f. xvv Moche water renneth nowe to waste.
a1640 P. Massinger Parl. of Love (1976) ii. iii. 95 Shall this nectar Runn [e] vseless then to waste?
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 41 Like that which flows at wast from the pen of some vulgar Amorist.
1741 I. Watts Improvem. Mind i. iii. 54 This will secure the Workings of your Soul from running to waste, and..even your looser Moments will turn to happy Account.
1803 C. Lamb Let. 20 May in Lett. C. & M. A. Lamb (1976) II. 111 You like me..reckon the lapse of time from the waste thereof, as boys let a cock run to waste.
1818 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto IV cxx. 63 Alas! our young affections run to waste, Or water but the desart.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 412 In an age of Scotists and Thomists even his intellect might have run to waste.
1853 C. Brontë Villette I. viii. 128 Beside a table, on which flared the remnant of a candle guttering to waste in the socket.]
1862 B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. II. v. 166 The faculties of the mind..run to waste if neglected.
1863 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 24 ii. 437 The sewage..ran to waste on the sea-shore.
1900 Jrnl. Soc. Dyers & Colourists 16 12 The water..is run to waste.
b. to go to waste: to be wasted.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (intransitive)] > be wasteful > be wasted
to go to wastea1500
to run to waste1511
to flow at waste1641
to fly waste1770
to run waste1814
a1500 Hist. K. Boccus & Sydracke (?1510) sig. G iijv There goyth of it [sc. of the sea] to wast somdele As euery man may wyt wel.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature II. 144 There is not a particle of vapour in the Universe that goes to waste.
1854 Poultry Chron. 2 42 We are importing ship-load after ship-load of guano..while hundreds of tons of poultry manure, which is ascertained to be equal in value, is suffered to go to waste in the United States.
1866 T. T. Stoddart Angler's Rambles 365 Five-sixths at the least of salmon ova go directly to waste.
c. †to grow to waste: Of a period of time, to approach its end.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > be at an end [verb (intransitive)] > approach the end
wane1590
to grow to wastea1616
to draw in1769
to draw by1850
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iv. ii. 247 The night growes to wast . View more context for this quotation
d. to cut to waste: lit. to cut (cloth) in a wasteful manner; figurative (? slang) to apportion (time) wastefully.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > spending time > spend time [verb (intransitive)] > waste time
prolong1449
protract1526
dally?1548
to burn daylight1597
lapse1667
to hinder time1712
niffle1775
to cut to waste1863
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (transitive)] > waste
spilla1000
scatter1154
aspilla1250
rospa1325
waste1340
spend1390
consumec1425
waste1474
miswenda1500
forsumea1510
to cast away1530
to throw away1561
embezzle1578
squander1593
palter1595
profuse1611
squander1611
ravel1614
sport1622
to fool away1628
to stream out1628
to fribble away1633
sweal1655
frisk1665
to fiddle away1667
wantonize1673
slattera1681
swattle1681
drivel1686
swatter1690
to muddle away1707
squander1717
sot1746
slattern1747
meisle1808
fritter1820
waster1821
slobber1837
to cut to waste1863
fringe1863
potter1883
putter1911
profligate1938
to piddle away1942
haemorrhage1978
spaff2002
1863 C. Reade Hard Cash xxxix He..said the Firm did not care to send its stuff to ladies not in the business; I might cut it to waste.
1863 Baily's Monthly Mag. Apr. 153 An hour and a half had been ‘cut to waste’, as the sporting reporters would say, and no tidings..had been received.
1891 Times 3 Oct. 7/1 Little time was cut to waste at the post.
III. Waste matter, refuse.
11. † b. figurative. Offscourings, dregs, worthless people.
a. Refuse matter; unserviceable material remaining over from any process of manufacture; the useless by-products of any industrial process; material or manufactured articles so damaged as to be useless or unsaleable.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > refuse or rubbish > [noun]
wrakea1350
outcastingc1350
rammel1370
rubble1376
mullockc1390
refusec1390
filtha1398
outcasta1398
chaff?a1400
rubbishc1400
wastec1430
drossc1440
raff?1440
rascal1440
murgeonc1450
wrack1472
gear1489
garblec1503
scowl1538
raffle1543
baggage1549
garbage1549
peltry1550
gubbins?1553
lastage1553
scruff1559
retraict1575
ross1577
riddings1584
ket1586
scouring1588
pelf1589
offal1598
rummage1598
dog's meat1606
retriment1615
spitling1620
recrement1622
mundungus1637
sordes1640
muskings1649
rejectament1654
offscouring1655
brat1656
relicts1687
offage1727
litter1730
rejectamenta1795
outwale1825
detritus1834
junk1836
wastements1843
croke1847–78
sculch1847
debris1851
rumble1854
flotsam1861
jetsam1861
pelt1880
offcasting1893
rubbishry1894
littering1897
muckings1898
wastage1898
dreck1905
bruck1929
crap1934
garbo1953
clobber1965
dooky1965
grot1971
tippings-
c1430 Lybeaus Disc. (Cott.) 1471 For gore, and fen, and full wast, That was out ykast.
1764 in 6th Rep. Deputy Keeper Rec. App. ii. 133 The Refuse or Waste used in the making of Allom, called Allom Slam.
1821 J. Smyth Pract. of Customs (ed. 2) ii. 323 The above Duty on Cotton Wool, or Waste of Cotton Wool,..is to be charged [etc.].
1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. xix. 520 The object of the preceding directions is to enable the economical experimenter to cut up into useful forms old glass, which would otherwise be thrown away as waste.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 9/2 I may instance another thing in which the worth of what in many places is valueless refuse is exemplified, in the matter of ‘waste’, as waste paper is always called in the trade.
1863 Technologist 3 358 All the fibre and gluten wastes of the maize plant which are precipitated during the process of extracting the fibres, are used for manufacturing paper.
1902 J. E. Wood Farden Ha' xviii The surrounding country (the aspect of which was scarred by pits, and distorted by black heaps of ‘waste’).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > worthlessness > worthless person > [noun] > as rubbish
offscum1579
waste1592
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > the lowest class > [noun] > persons of the lowest class (collectively)
chenaille1340
offal?a1425
putaylea1425
ribaldail1489
abject1526
offscouring1526
dreg1531
outsweeping1535
braggery1548
ribaldry1550
raff1557
sink1574
cattle1579
offscum1579
rabble1579
baggagery1589
scum1590
waste1592
menialty1593
baggage1603
froth1603
refuse1603
tag-rag1609
retriment1615
trasha1616
recrement1622
silts1636
garbage1648
riffle-raffle1668
raffle1670
riff-raff1678
scurf1688
mob1693
scouring1721
ribble-rabble1771
sweeping1799
clamjamphrie1816
ragabash1823
scruff1836
residuum1851
talent1882
1592 T. Nashe Pierce Penilesse (Brit. Libr. copy) sig. H v There is a certaine wast of the people for whom there is no vse, but warre.
c. = cotton waste n. at cotton n.1 Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [noun] > cotton > refuse
cotton waste1824
waste1864
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > wiping > [noun] > material for wiping with > cotton waste
waste1864
wiping1888
1864 Chambers's Jrnl. 16 July 460/2 Smith the driver..standing upon the foot-plate of No. 69, leisurely attempting to remove the surplus oil from his black hands with a very suspicious piece of ‘waste’.
1886 J. Barrowman Gloss. Sc. Mining Terms 70 Waste, cotton refuse for cleaning machinery.
1909 Blackwood's Mag. Sept. 315/2 The old order of Engineer Officer..was swaddled in ‘waste’ rather than sail-cloth, and smelt not of pitch but of warm oil.
d. Printing, etc. The surplus sheets of a work. See also quot. 1888.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > paper > [noun] > folded to form pages > surplus sheets of work
waste1785
spoilage1888
1785 W. Tooke in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Literary Men (1843) (Camden) 430 What is called in typographical language the waste of works printed at the Academy, is seldom or never preserved.
1841 W. Savage Dict. Art of Printing 810.
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 154 Waste, surplus sheets of a book beyond the plus copies. Also spoilt sheets used for running up colour on a machine, etc.
e. Coal Mining. (See quot. 1883.)
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > coal or types of coal > [noun] > small, refuse, impure, or coal-dust
slackc1440
smith coal1466
smithy coal1482
coal dusta1529
panwood1531
smith's coal1578
kirving1599
culm1603
coom1611
small coal1643
smit1670
smut1686
slag1695
duff1724
duff coal1724
small1780
gum1790
stinking coal1803
cobbles1811
nubbling1825
stinkers1841
rubble1844
pea1855
nuts1857
nut coal1861
slap1865
burgee1867
smudge1883
waste1883
treble1901
coal smut1910
gumming1938
nutty slack1953
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 278 Waste. 2. (North) very small coal or slack.
12. † a. An overflow of surplus water. Obsolete.
b. A pipe, conduit, or other contrivance for carrying off waste matter or surplus water, steam, etc. Cf. waste-pipe n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > liquid which has been emitted > overflow > [noun] > of surplus water
waste waterc1450
surabundance?1473
float1523
overflowing1574
waste1587
society > occupation and work > equipment > conveyor > [noun] > conduit, channel, or tube > pipe > to carry off waste
waste-pipec1512
waste1587
waste-spout1668
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1312/1 Means is made, by a standard with one cocke at Holborne bridge to conueie the wast.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1348/2 Vp vnto the northwest corner of Leaden hall..where the waste of the first maine pipe ran first this yeare.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 262 He went and washed his hands at the waste [Fr. russeau] of the well.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 224 If 'tis made very sloaping on each side 'tis the better, leaving a waste to carry off your waste Water in times of Floods or Rains.
1877 S. S. Hellyer Plumber v. 47 If more than one basin is fixed upon the same waste, the size should be proportionately increased.
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 48 Have the sink deep, as it can, by plugging the waste with a cock through which the glass tube passes, be utilised for washing purposes.
c. Waste water, effluent; spec. that which is free of excrement. Cf. soil n.3 7.The distinction between waste and soil is commoner in the combinations with pipe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > [noun] > dirt removed in cleaning > sewage > effluent
effluent1860
waste1886
1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 715/2 To connect a water-closet soil-pipe with sinks and basins..is to multiply possibilities for the spread of disease within the house, and it is strongly advisable to convey the waste from them by a separate pipe.
1913 E. H. Blake Drainage & Sanitation vii. 239 We may next consider the kinds of waste pipe... They comprise rain-water pipes.., soil pipes taking the wastes from closets and housemaids' sinks, and pipes taking the wastes from baths, lavatories, and sinks.
1959 F. G. Goodin & J. Downing Domestic Sanitation v. 127 Sanitary fitments, may be divided broadly into those intended to receive the wastes of the human body, and those designed for dirty, soapy or greasy water.
1973 H. King Do your own Home Plumbing ix. 87 Many older houses have a two-pipe plumbing system consisting of separate waste and soil services.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 28 Aug. 12/3 One theory not in the report was that frozen plumbing may have caused a backup of wastes and a contamination of the water system.
1978 T. Pettit Home Plumbing x. 51/2 Waste from WCs is discharged into the soil and vent system of pipework.
Compounds
Combinations. C1. Obvious combinations.
a. (In sense 1.)
waste-dwelling adj.
ΚΠ
1900 A. Lang Hist. Scotl. I. iv. 70 The elder gods may have been degraded to waste-dwelling demons.
b. (In sense 5.)
waste-preventing adj.
ΚΠ
1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning Woollen & Worsted 173 With waste-preventing machines much more progress has been made.
waste-preventor adj.
ΚΠ
1884 Internat. Health Exhib. Official Catal. 94/1 New English Wash-out and noiseless Waste-preventor Cistern.
c. (In sense 11.)
waste-collector n.
ΚΠ
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 9/2 ‘I don't know how it is, sir,’ said one waste collector,..‘but paper gets scarcer or else I'm out of luck.’
waste-dealer n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in other specific articles
ironmonger1164
ointer1263
bowyer1297
jewellera1382
fletcher1457
stapler1532
India merchant1618
tobacconist1657
colourman1663
tobacconer1701
lamp-man1704
drysalter1707
snuffman1723
wet-salter1725
potman1732
material man1778
tobacco-trader1840
dogman1860
stamp-dealer1863
waste-dealer1876
pearler1881
1876 I. Banks Manch. Man (1902) xviii. 79 Nadin..followed up the clue to a waste~dealer's who bought at his own price workpeople's ‘waste’ (i.e. warp, weft, silk, &c. remaining after work was completed).
1882 W. Westall Tales & Trad. Switzerland 289 ‘A doctor! What for?’ interrupted the retired waste~dealer.
waste-disposal n.
ΚΠ
1968 E. A. Powdrill Vocab. Land Planning iv. 64 Industrial land does not include..land for..waste disposal (where this occupies a significant area detached from the industrial process).
1977 P. Johnson Enemies of Society vii. 91 We now have a good idea of the extensive damage done in the areas of Lake Baikal, the Volga, the Caspian and the Aral seas, and other Soviet areas of industrial waste-disposal.
waste-pit n.
ΚΠ
1906 R. A. S. Macalister Bible Sidelights 135 That it was a temple of some sort was indicated..by a waste-pit full of sheep-bones, apparently those of sacrificial victims.
waste-tip n. tip n.5 4b.
ΚΠ
1906 Victoria County Hist. Cornwall I. 520/2 The rock..is taken.., the useless to the waste tip, and the good to the deposit floors.
C2. Special combinations:
waste-basket n. now chiefly U.S. = waste paper n. basket.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > clearing of refuse matter > refuse disposal > [noun] > receptacle for refuse
vat1534
voider1613
waste-paper box1836
dustbin1847
kid1847
waste-basket1850
scrap-box1858
waste-paper basket1859
garbage can1869
can1872
hell1872
scrap basket1872
sink tidy1881
tidy-betty1884
kitchen tidy1885
midden1890
wagger1903
W.P.B.1903
waste-bin1915
Sanibin1921
binette1922
G.I. can1929
trash can1929
trashbag1934
litter-bin1947
shitcan1948
pedal bin1951
trash-bin1955
litter-basket1958
midgie1965
bin1972
swing bin1972
tidy bin1972
dump bin1978
wheelie bin1984
binbag1986
1850 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel I. ii. vi. 117 Public men have such odd out-of-the-way letters that their waste-baskets are never empty.
1868 ‘H. Lee’ Basil Godfrey's Caprice lv Basil tore the paper.., and thrust it into the waste-basket.
1913 J. Webster Daddy-Long-Legs 35 If my letters bore you you can always toss them into the waste-basket.
waste-basket v. to put in the waste-paper basket.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > refuse or rubbish > treat as refuse [verb (transitive)]
waste-basket1889
junk1911
garbage1915
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > non-use > refrain from using [verb (transitive)] > discard from use > as worn-out or useless
waste-basket1889
scrap1902
to cast on or consign to the scrap-heap1903
scrap-heap1907
1889 ‘M. Twain’ Lett. (1917) II. xxix. 514 Send me the pages with your corrections on them, and waste-basket the rest.
1900 ‘M. Twain’ Man that corrupted Hadleyburg 127 Indefinite testimonies might properly be waste-basketed, since there is evidently no lack of definite ones procurable.
waste-bin n. a dustbin.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > clearing of refuse matter > refuse disposal > [noun] > receptacle for refuse
vat1534
voider1613
waste-paper box1836
dustbin1847
kid1847
waste-basket1850
scrap-box1858
waste-paper basket1859
garbage can1869
can1872
hell1872
scrap basket1872
sink tidy1881
tidy-betty1884
kitchen tidy1885
midden1890
wagger1903
W.P.B.1903
waste-bin1915
Sanibin1921
binette1922
G.I. can1929
trash can1929
trashbag1934
litter-bin1947
shitcan1948
pedal bin1951
trash-bin1955
litter-basket1958
midgie1965
bin1972
swing bin1972
tidy bin1972
dump bin1978
wheelie bin1984
binbag1986
1915 Daily Tel. 14 Aug. 10/7 If all the scraps after meals..be carefully kept, instead of..put into the waste-bin or burned.
waste-box n. Mining (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1860 Eng. & Foreign Mining Gloss. (new ed.) (Newcastle Terms) 66 Waste boxes, boxes in which the waste water of the pumping-pit is conveyed from the rings.
waste-cock n. a cock to regulate the discharge of waste water.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > other specific types of equipment > [noun] > tap > types of
washer1596
plug1707
ballcock1734
bib cock1797
draw-off1826
plug cock1826
screw tap1842
waste-cock1844
ball tap1849
self-tapping1878
mixing valve1902
mixer tap1936
combination tap1951
mixer1973
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 317 He is able..so to adjust the cock that the requisite supply shall go to the boiler, without entirely shutting the waste~cock.
waste disposal unit n. (see quot. 1967).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > clearing of refuse matter > refuse disposal > [noun] > apparatus for refuse disposal
refuse destructor1880
refuse consumer1885
garbage disposal1928
wastemaster1946
garburator1947
disposal1953
waste-disposer1962
waste disposal unit1967
1967 Gloss. Sanitation Terms (B.S.I.) 63 Waste disposal unit, an electrically operated mechanical device for reducing kitchen garbage into fragments small enough to be flushed into the drainage system.
1968 R. V. Beste Repeat Instruct. vi. 64 His first conscious memory was of being in the kitchen stuffing the torn pieces into the waste disposal unit.
1977 Evening Post (Nottingham) 27 Jan. 14/4 (advt.) Lounge, hall, fitted cupboards, fully fitted kitchen with waste disposal unit.
waste-disposer n. = waste disposal unit n. above.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > clearing of refuse matter > refuse disposal > [noun] > apparatus for refuse disposal
refuse destructor1880
refuse consumer1885
garbage disposal1928
wastemaster1946
garburator1947
disposal1953
waste-disposer1962
waste disposal unit1967
1962 Which? Mar. 82/1 There are obvious advantages..in being able to get rid of kitchen scraps straight down the drain, with a waste disposer.
1980 A. N. Wilson Healing Art vi. 62 A new sun lounge..a waste-disposer in the sink.
waste-drain n. a drain for carrying off waste water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > provision of sewers > [noun] > sewer > drain for carrying off waste-water
waste-drain1833
bolt1855
1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §32 A large cock in the bottom of the receiving tank, communicating with the waste drain.
waste-gate n. = waste-hatch n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [noun] > artificially confined water > contrivance for impounding water > gate, lock, or sluice > for regulating outflow
waste-hatch1705
waste-gate1791
tide-flap1843
waste-sluice1844
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > parts of > apparatus for increasing pressure > parts of
waste-gate1948
1791 R. Mylne 2nd Rep. Navigation Thames 11 The Waste and Buck Gates are quite ruinous.
1948 Shell Aviation News No. 115. 19/1 The closed wastegate limitation is the condition where all of the available exhaust gas energy is required to drive the compressor, and all of the exhaust gas is directed through the turbine.
1981 Pop. Hot Rodding Feb. 22/1 It will be a relatively simple matter of welding in sections of bent tubing to make the necessary connections (including a waste-gate, should one be required).
1983 Which? Dec. 559/1 So a valve is needed—the wastegate—which opens when the pressure is at its maximum safe level to divert some of the exhaust gases away from the turbine.
waste-hatch n. (a) a gate or hatch for regulating the outflow of waste water; (b) Engineering a device in a turbocharger which regulates the pressure at which exhaust gases pass to the turbine by opening or closing a vent to the external atmosphere.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [noun] > artificially confined water > contrivance for impounding water > gate, lock, or sluice > for regulating outflow
waste-hatch1705
waste-gate1791
tide-flap1843
waste-sluice1844
1705 Act 4 & 5 Anne c. 8 (21) §5 One Scuttle or small Hatch of a Foot Square in the Waste Hatch or Water course in the direct Stream wherein no Water Wheel standeth [etc.].
waste-heap n. (a) a pile of refuse matter; (b) transferred in Cards, a pile of cards formed from the accumulation during the course of a game of those which cannot be played (cf. rubbish heap n. at rubbish n., adj., and int. Compounds 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > refuse or rubbish > [noun] > heap or accumulation of
middena1425
dust-heap1654
refuse heap1816
detritus1849
tip1863
dump1865
waste-heap1873
junkyard1885
slag heap1917
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > card or cards > [noun] > pile of cards unable to be played
discard1719
waste-heap1873
discard pile1884
1873 B. Stewart Conservation of Energy v. 153 Universally diffused heat forms what we may call the great waste-heap of the universe.
1892 ‘L. Hoffmann’ Illustr. Bk. Patience Games 4 If its [sc. the card's] nature does not allow of its being so played, it is laid face upwards in front of the player, the cards so deposited being known as the ‘waste-’ or ‘rubbish-heap’.
1913 ‘L. Hoffmann’ Sel. Patience Games 5 The cards so dealt with being known as the ‘waste-heap’ or ‘rubbish-heap’.
1915 Blackwood's Mag. Nov. 702/2 Fosse Eight is a mighty waste-heap.
1975 Way to Play 145/3 Waste pile or heap, cards from the stock that cannot immediately be played onto the layout are sometimes placed face up in one or more waste piles, to be brought back into the game as appropriate.
waste heat n. heat produced as the by-product of some process; waste-heat boiler, a boiler employing this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > [noun] > heat as a by-product
waste heat1908
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > boiler > [noun] > types of
steam-boiler1805
boiler1818
generator1823
wagon-boiler1837
Cornish boiler1840
saddle boiler1840
French boiler1844
vomiting-boiler1844
water-tube boiler1850
feed-heater1864
Scotch boiler1877
cross-tubea1884
steamer1891
flash generator1903
flash steam generator1907
waste-heat boiler1930
1908 A. G. King Pract. Steam & Hot Water Heating xxvii. 343 When no waste heat is available, an ordinary type of pipe heater may be used.
1930 Engineering 8 Aug. 188/3 The utilization of exhaust gases in waste-heat boilers had improved the efficiency of the large gas engine.
1972 R. G. Kazmann Mod. Hydrol. (ed. 2) iv. 130 The remainder of this energy, ‘waste heat’, must be disposed of into the immediate environment of the power plant.
1982 W. F. Owen Energy in Wastewater Treatm. xii. 281 Three basic types of heat recovery equipment are typically used in wastewater heat recovery systems: shell-and-tube exchangers, waste heat boilers, and heat wheels.
waste-hole n. a hole for the discharge of superfluous water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [noun] > communicating with outside or air > for escape or discharge of something
vent1570
venting-hole1601
pigeonhole1683
waste-hole1839
porthole1858
port1944
1839 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 2 436/1 The same adjustment may be made by stopping the pump, and letting out the water from the waste-holes.
waste-inspector n. a water-company's or municipality's official employed to report cases of waste of water.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > holder of office > public officials > [noun] > other English officials
wicknerc1000
purveyorc1425
remembrancer1431
Clerk of the Market1451
secondary1461
water bailiff1590
Master of the Jewel House1597
clerk of the remembrance1607
well-reeve?1648
stairer1695
bar-keeper1818
waste-inspector1898
1898 Daily News 17 June 3/3 A turncock and waste inspector, in the service of the Vauxhall Waterworks Company.
waste maker n. [ < title of book: see quot. 1961] a manufacturer of consumer goods that are intended not to be durable or to be partially wasted so that the demand for new goods is kept high.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > makers of other articles > [noun] > of goods designed not to last
waste maker1961
1961 V. Packard Waste Makers v. 48 In some cases the consumers have no choice but to be waste makers because of the way products are sold to them. Many paste pots come with brushes built into the cover, and the brushes fail..to reach the bottom... Thus millions of ‘empty’ paste jars are thrown away with a few spoonfuls of paste still in them.
1970 G. Jackson Let. 17 June in Soledad Brother (1971) 282 You dig, no waste makers, nor harnesses on production.
waste-man n. Mining a man whose duty is to inspect the waste (sense 4), and to secure the proper ventilation of the mine.
ΚΠ
1812 J. Hodgson in J. Raine Mem. J. Hodgson (1857) I. 96 The waste-men or ventilators of the mine.
1825 E. Mackenzie Hist. View Northumberland (ed. 2) I. 90 Wastemen, persons that daily examine the state of the workings, and see that they are properly ventilated.
1891 Labour Commission Gloss. Wastemen, generally old men who are employed in building pillars for the support of the roof in the waste, i.e. old workings and airways; and in keeping the airways open and in good order.
waste mould n. in Sculpture, a simple negative mould which has to be broken to release the cast inside it.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > modelling > [noun] > casting methods > mould
mould1530
intaglio1825
print1847
piece-mould1867
mother mould1898
negative1911
waste mould1929
1929 F. J. Glass Modelling & Sculpture viii. 73 You now proceed to chip away the white portion of the waste mould.
1971 Daily Tel. 5 Mar. (Colour Suppl.) 8/2 From this brittle clay an impression—a ‘waste-mould’—is taken, from which a plaster cast is made.
waste moulding n. cf. piece-mould n. at piece n. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > modelling > [noun] > casting methods
plaster casting1849
cire perdue1876
waste moulding1911
lost wax1933
1911 A. Toft Modelling & Sculpture vi. 90 The term ‘waste moulding’ implies that the mould is only made to serve the purpose of taking one cast.
1918 H. H. Stansfield Sculpture ii. 9 In waste moulding the plaster is chipped away so that the mould is destroyed.
waste-pallet n. Organ-building a valve allowing escape of air from the storage-bellows when too full (see pallet n.3 3).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > organ > [noun] > pallet
palletc1695
waste-pallet1880
1880 C. A. Edwards Organs ii. i. 44 The waste-pallet is an arrangement corresponding to the safety-valve in the steamboiler.
1898 J. Stainer Stainer & Barrett's Dict. Musical Terms (rev. ed.) 338 In order to prevent an undue rising of the bellows when more wind is supplied than used, a waste-pallet is placed in every bellows.
waste-pipe n. a pipe to carry off waste water or steam; also spec. a pipe for the drainage of effluent from sinks, baths, etc., in contrast to a soil-pipe.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > conveyor > [noun] > conduit, channel, or tube > pipe > to carry off waste
waste-pipec1512
waste1587
waste-spout1668
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > provision of sewers > [noun] > sewer > drain-pipe > for waste-water
waste-pipe1946
c1512 Archaeologia 58 301 Boþe þe suspirel and þe waste pipe awoyde ther water in a gotir of breke.
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 362/1 Aqua caduca,..water that runneth ouer, or at the waste pipes or spowts of condut heads.
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 211 To empty the Bason entirely.., which is done by means of..a Waste-Pipe at the Bottom of it.
1876 W. P. Buchan Plumbing xiv. 90 When soil-pipes and waste-pipes are put up inside the house, great care should be taken that they are properly fitted up.
1877 T. H. Huxley Physiography 39 The steam which issues from the waste-pipe being cooled down by contact with the cold air.
1907 J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 35 To connect the waste pipe with nearest drain or gutter.
1946 E. Molloy Plumbing & Gas-fitting x. 221/2 For a waste pipe from a bath, sink, bidet, or lavatory basin discharging into a soil pipe from a water-closet, or a waste pipe from a slop sink, the Model By-laws specify ‘a suitable trap adequately secured against destruction of the water seal’.
waste plug n. = plug n. 1b, †2 k.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] > water-closet or lavatory > W.C. appliances > stopper
plug1764
waste plug1877
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > provision of sewers > [noun] > sewer > plug-hole > stopper for
plug1860
waste plug1877
1877 G. E. Waring Sanitary Conditions City & Country Houses 79 If the waste plug is operated by a handle rising the slab, there is a considerable length of pipe between it and the bottom of the basin.
1882 S. S. Hellyer Lect. Sci. & Art Sanitary Plumbing v. 193 These water-closets were made of marble— a the pan; b the waste-plug; c the service-pipe; d the overflow.
1965 A. L. Townsend Plumbing Second Year iii. 72 The bath will..be fitted with a waste plug and chain.
waste silk n. the inferior silk from the outside of cocoons and from cocoons out of which the moths have been allowed to escape.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > silk > [noun] > rough or inferior
floss1760
waste silk1797
shap1882
1797 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 486/1 Before you begin to wind, you must prepare your cocoons..stripping them of that waste silk that surrounds them, and which served to fasten them to the twigs.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2292/2 Spun-silk, a cheap article produced from short-fibered and waste silk, in contradistinction to the long fibers wound from the cocoon and thrown.
1921 R. Beaumont & W. G. Hill Dress, Blouse, & Costume Cloths 94 The ‘Schappe’ or ‘steeping practice’ consists in placing the supply of waste silk in jacketed pans.
waste-sluice n. a sluice for regulating the outflow of waste water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [noun] > artificially confined water > contrivance for impounding water > gate, lock, or sluice > for regulating outflow
waste-hatch1705
waste-gate1791
tide-flap1843
waste-sluice1844
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 327 As a waste-sluice, the most convenient and simple, in a mill of this kind, is the trap-sluice.
waste-spout n. a spout for the issue of waste-water.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > conveyor > [noun] > conduit, channel, or tube > pipe > to carry off waste
waste-pipec1512
waste1587
waste-spout1668
1668 J. Flavell Saint Indeed 26 Few words run then at the wast Spout.
waste-way n. U.S. a channel for the passage of waste water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > stream > [noun] > channel for conveyance of water > for surplus water
sluicea1552
watershoot1599
offlet?1744
dale1851
waste-way1881
spill1900
1881 W. M. Thayer From Log Cabin to White House xii. 149 There was a waste-way just ahead.
1884 Harper's Mag. Sept. 621/2 Above these..is a wasteway..over which the surplus water can pour.
waste-weir n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > body of water > channel of water > [noun] > navigable waterway > canal > other structures in canals
overfall1764
aqueduct1791
tail-cut1791
waste-weir1793
boatlift1839
berm-bank1854
tail-bay1856
1793 R. Mylne Rep. Surv. Thames improving Navigation 23 There was Seven Inches of Water running over at the Waste Weir at Boulter's Old Lock.
1840 H. S. Tanner Canals & Rail Roads U.S. 264 Waste weir, a water guage; a cut at the side of a canal by which the surplus water of canals is carried off.
1868 Chambers's Encycl. X. 516/2 There is also the waste-weir, for the purpose of preventing a reservoir embankment being overtopped by floods.
waste-yard n. ? Obsolete ? a yard for the reception of odds and ends of little value.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > [noun] > an enclosed space or place > an enclosed piece of ground > for working, storing, or growing in > for storing things of little value
waste-yarda1630
a1630 F. Moryson in Shakespeare's Europe (1903) v. i. 460 Theire houses, (which haue no such wastyardes about them as euery Farmers house hath with vs).
1826 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 14 Oct. 162 And, rick-yard, farm-yard, waste-yard, horse-paddock, and all round about, seemed to be swarming with fowls, ducks, and turkeys.
1854 C. Dickens Hard Times i. xi. 82 In the waste-yard outside [the mill], the steam from the escape-pipe, the litter of barrels and old iron, the shining heaps of coals, the ashes everywhere, were shrouded in a veil of mist and rain.
Draft additions March 2006
waste of space n. figurative colloquial a useless, inadequate, or contemptible person or thing.
ΚΠ
1972 Daily Tel. 7 Jan. 11/7 Almost every silly little myth and pretension associated with the phrase avant-garde is perpetuated by this preposterous waste of space.
1982 Associated Press Newswire (Nexis) 5 Feb. On the American Institute of Certified Public Account[ant]s, the trade group: ‘A waste of space. Mediocre paper shufflers.’
1997 Time Out 10 Sept. 183/2 His dad thinks he's a waste of space, his mum's a soft touch, he's a dole-bludging gambler.
2000 M. Herman Purely Belter 64 Bloody waste of space, that one.
Draft additions March 2019
wasteman n. British slang (chiefly London) a worthless, inadequate, or despicable person; a loser; cf. waste of space n. at Additions.
ΚΠ
2004 www.urbandictionary.com 25 Aug. (O.E.D. Archive 2019) Waste man, waste of time, waste of space (in an argument) ‘shut up you Waste man.’
2007 ‘Dizzee Rascal’ Wanna Be in Maths + English (transcribed from song, perf. ‘Dizzee Rascal’ and Lily Allen) I know you think you're a big man (What mate?) But really you're just a wasteman ('Low it.).
2010 @hooliganbad 31 Dec. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) My Dad was a wasteman and still is.
2017 Evening Standard (Nexis) 30 Nov. 15 You can weigh in on a stranger's love life (‘Dump him! He's a wasteman!’).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
wasteadj.
/weɪst/, U.S. /weɪst/ 1. Of land:in combination.1839 T. Carlyle Chartism v. 36 It is not Chaos and a waste-whirling baseless Phantasm.1851 T. Carlyle Life J. Sterling i. v. 51 This waste-weltering epoch.1871 T. Carlyle in J. W. Carlyle Lett. & Memorials (1883) I. 141 On the solitary coach-roof, under the waste~blowing skies.† d. transferred. ? Uncultured mentally. Obsolete.
a. Uncultivated and uninhabited or sparsely inhabited. Sometimes with stronger implication: Incapable of habitation or cultivation; producing little or no vegetation; barren, desert. See also wasteland n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [adjective]
westeeOE
wildc893
wastyc1230
wastec1290
untilled1297
void1398
wilsomea1400
desolate1413
wastablea1450
unlaboured1474
untilthed1495
spare1508
unmanured1541
unculted1548
uncultured1555
Hyrcan1567
untoiled1578
manureless1595
griggy1597
Wealdish1598
Hyrcanian1600
unwrought1600
wealy1601
uncultived1605
incult1624
unmanaged1634
incultivateda1657
uncultivate1659
uncultivated1684
unreclaimed1753
wildered1810
irreclaimed1814
natural1827
feral1882
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. 205/180 Al-a-boute in a waste londe.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 51 Affryca..hath more wyldernes and waste londe, for grete brennynge and hete of þe sonne, þan Europa.
c1420 Wyntoun Cron. ii. ix. 787 He sende wiþe þaim sum of his men Til Irlande, þat was nocht ȝit þen Inhabit, bot was wast haly.
c1500 Melusine (1895) i. 18 He began within her land, that was wast & deserte for to byld..fayre tounes & strong Castels.
a1505 R. Henryson Test. Cresseid 588 in Poems (1981) 130 My spreit I leif to Diane,..To walk with hir in waist woddis and wellis.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Wisd. xi. 2 They..pitched their tentes in ye waist deserte.
1598 R. Hakluyt tr. W. de Rubruquis in Princ. Navigations (new ed.) I. 103 We trauailed directly Eastward, hauing a Sea on the South side of vs, and a waste desert on the North.
1635 D. Dickson Short Explan. Hebrewes xii. 22. 301 Vagabonds, wandring abroad in a waste Wildernesse.
c1639 W. Mure Psalmes xxix. 8 in Wks. (1898) II. 99 Yea, at the dreadfull voyce of God, Waist Kadesh desart quaikes.
1653 H. Holcroft tr. Procopius Persian Wars i. 20 in tr. Procopius Hist. Warres Justinian [They] ever neglected the Province beyond the Euphrates, being without water and wast.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd i. 7 I..now sing Recover'd Paradise to all mankind,..And Eden rais'd in the wast Wilderness. View more context for this quotation
1819 W. Scott Legend of Montrose iii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. IV. 54 He therefore plodded patiently on through a waste and savage wilderness.
1843 T. De Quincey Ceylon in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Nov. 626/2 Ceylon has not much of waste ground, in the sense of being irreclaimable—for of waste ground, in the sense of being unoccupied, she has an infinity.
b. figurative. Desolate, barren. Cf. 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > productiveness > unproductiveness > [adjective]
unbearingc825
deafc897
westyOE
wastumlessc975
wilderna1050
drya1340
gelda1350
barren1377
unfructuousa1382
poora1387
ungreenc1400
infecundc1420
farrow1494
fruitlessa1513
unfruitful1531
sterile1552
hungry1577
penurious1594
unfertile1596
infertile1598
howling1611
ungenitureda1616
arid1656
infecundous1661
ungendering1706
yeld1721
unproductive1725
infructuose1727
ungenerative1733
fallow1791
nihili-parturient1812
dowf1824
wastec1825
non-productive1830
unreproductive1836
infructuous1860
unvintaged1869
increative1877
ablastemic1881
submarginal1895
c1825 W. M. Praed Farewell in Poems iv And still the shadowy hope was rife That once in this waste weary life My path might cross with thine.
1839 J. H. Newman Parochial Serm. IV. xii. 215 The world, in which our duties lie, is as waste as the wilderness.
1845 J. H. Newman Ess. Devel. Christian Doctr. 314 Dreary and waste was the condition of the Church.
1851 T. Carlyle Life J. Sterling ii. xiii. 324 Our conversation was waste and logical, I forget quite on what, not joyful and harmoniously effusive.
1908 W. M. Ramsay Luke i. 3 Nothing in the whole history of literary criticism has been so waste and dreary as great part of the modern critical study of Luke.
c. In weaker sense: Not applied to any purpose; not utilized for cultivation or building.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > non-use > [adjective] > not put to any purpose
waste1439
loose1479
undisposed1483
undisposed1631
undedicated1661
unengaged1711
undesignated1795
1439 in J. D. Marwick Charters Edinb. (1871) 64 Beside the vaste lande neire byside the house of John of Turyng.
1480 Cov. Leet Bk. 445 Be lawe of þis lande, the lorde of þe waste soyle may surcharge and put þerin what nombre [of cattle] hym lykes.
1480 Cov. Leet Bk. 472 The seid Priour & Couent seyn that þe same grounde is parcell of the Churcheyarde, and was no wast-grounde.
1531 Abstr. Protocols Town Clerks Glasgow (1897) IV. 32 Ane waest bornesteyd, lyand into Sant Tenewsgaet.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 50 That we have so much wast ground here in our cuntrey, hyt ys not to be attrybute to the nature of the erthe..but [etc.].
1543 tr. Act 13 Edw. I c. 45 Where as in a statute made at Merton it was graunted that lordes of wast woodes and pastures myght improwe the sayde wast woodes and pastures, [etc.].
1551 R. Crowley Pleasure & Payne sig. Cviiv Caste downe the hedges and stronge mowndes, That you have caused to be made, Aboute the waste and tyllage growndes.
1690 J. Locke Two Treat. Govt. ii. v. §42 Land that is left wholly to Nature, that hath no Improvement of Pasturage, Tillage, or Planting, is called, as indeed it is, Waste.
1725 London Gaz. No. 6398/1 A Piece of waste Ground for Building.
1820 Starkie Rep. Cases N.P. II. 464 The lords of the manor of Hampstead had, from time immemorial, exercised the right of granting out parcels of the waste lands within the manor, with the consent of the copy~holders.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. viii. 280 A melancholy piece of waste ground with frowzy grass.
1858 J. B. Norton Topics for Indian Statesmen 225 The district officers had not had leisure to settle all the contending applications for permission to take up waste lands.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 109 Let the fowler confine himself to waste places and to the mountains.
1900 W. H. Hudson Nature in Downland 41 Thistly, and weedy waste lands.
1908 W. M. Ramsay Luke v. 179 The soil originally was waste and valueless.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > cultural ignorance > [adjective]
rudea1382
roida1400
borel1513
rustical?1532
illiberal1535
waste?1541
rusticc1550
illiterate1556
ruggedc1565
profane1568
unskilful1572
raw?1573
clownish1581
home-born1589
rough-hewn1593
unpolished1594
artless1598
home-bred1602
unbevelled1602
incult1628
museless1644
uncultivated1646
incultivateda1657
uncultivate1659
incultivate1661
unpolite1674
uncult1675
repent1684
uncultivated1725
uncultured1777
unenlightened1792
cultureless1824
sloven1856
philistinic1869
undoctrined1869
Philistine1871
Philistinish1871
roughneck1906
lowbrow1907
low-level1916
no-brow1922
bohunk1957
bakya1960
?1541 M. Coverdale Confut. Standish sig. ijv Yf I shuld saye ye were puft vp, ignoraunt, a waist brayne, et cete...ye wolde happlie be angrie.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [adjective] > devastating > devastated
barec1305
waste1338
desolatea1382
yheryȝeda1440
wastedc1440
ruined1600
vastate1616
devasted1632
ravaged1657
divast1677
populated1747
devastated1813
1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1725) 62 Þer þe Inglis had bigged, he mad it wast & bare.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 32 The toun is wast.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 18890 Þe psalm sais, thoru þe haligast, His woning stede be wild and wast.
14.. Polit. Poems (Rolls) II. 244 An old castel, and not repaired, With wast walles and wowes wide.
c1480 (a1400) St. Placidus 326 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 78 [Satan] kist don castellis in hast, & towne & tilth al mad wast.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) vii. 151 And than the formast cumin weir Till a vast [1489 Adv. waist] husbandis hou.
1491 Newminster Cartul. (1878) 251 Two waste chapellez.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cclxix. 163 He..rested hym in certayne olde wast & broken howses.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Kings xix. 25 Now haue I caused it for to come, that contencious stronge cities mighte fall in to a waist heape of stones.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. v. 236 [He] built a strong forte vpon the sea shore, and repaired an other which had lien a long time waste.
a1604 M. Hanmer Chron. Ireland 53 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) The which Abbey..was afterward destroyed by Pyrates..and so continued waste unto the time of Malachias Bishop of Armach.
1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward I. Introd. p. lvi A very large and well-proportioned saloon;..but so waste and dilapidated, that [etc.].
3. figurative.1660 H. More Explan. Grand Myst. Godliness i. v. 14 [This] is a sign they are stark naught, and that Pride has laid wast their Intellectuals.1680 W. Allen Perswasive to Peace & Unity (ed. 2) Pref. p. xlviii. Because they laid waste Charity in a great measure by their divisions and contentions.1846 R. C. Trench Christ Desire of All Nations viii. 159 To hinder him from utterly laying waste his moral life.
a. to lie waste: To remain in an uncultivated or ruinous condition.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > devastate or lay waste (a place, etc.)
harryc893
fordoc900
awesteeOE
westeeOE
losec950
harrowc1000
destroyc1230
wastec1275
ravishc1325
to lie waste1338
exilea1382
to-wastea1382
unronea1400
desolatea1425
vast1434
fruster?a1513
to lay waste1535
wipe1535
devast1537
depopulate1548
populate1552
forwaste1563
ruinate1564
havoc1575
scourge1576
dispopulate1588
destitute1593
ravage1602
harassa1618
devastate1638
execute1679
to make stroy of1682
to lay in ashes1711
untown1783
hell-rake1830
uncity1850
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > be wild or uncultivated [verb (intransitive)] > grow or remain wild
to lie waste1338
wilder1798
1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1725) 239 It lies now waste & lorn, half may þei not tille.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. i. A Youre londe lieth waist, youre cities are brent vp.
1557 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandrie sig. C.iiiiv Thryfallowe betime, for destroing of weede:..And better thou warte, so to doe for thy hast: then (hardnes) for slougth make thy lande to lie wast.
1653 H. Holcroft tr. Procopius Gothick Warre iii. 88 in tr. Procopius Hist. Warres Justinian Turris, an ancient City..which had been sack'd by Barbarians, and layen long wast.
1890 D. Davidson Mem. Long Life ix. 214 At the close of the Pindaree war many villages were lying waste in the valley of the Nerbudda for more than thirty years.
b. to lay waste: to devastate, ravage (land, buildings).
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > devastate or lay waste (a place, etc.)
harryc893
fordoc900
awesteeOE
westeeOE
losec950
harrowc1000
destroyc1230
wastec1275
ravishc1325
to lie waste1338
exilea1382
to-wastea1382
unronea1400
desolatea1425
vast1434
fruster?a1513
to lay waste1535
wipe1535
devast1537
depopulate1548
populate1552
forwaste1563
ruinate1564
havoc1575
scourge1576
dispopulate1588
destitute1593
ravage1602
harassa1618
devastate1638
execute1679
to make stroy of1682
to lay in ashes1711
untown1783
hell-rake1830
uncity1850
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms lxxix. 7 For they haue deuoured Iacob, and layed waiste his dwellinge place.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. xix All the countrie aboute layde waste.
1563–4 Reg. Privy Council Scotl. I. 257 Layand thairthrow waist ane grete part of the cuntre.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lxxiv. 42 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 96 Not one house doth stand..But they by fire haue laide it waste.
1610 R. Niccols Winter Night's Vision: Robert Duke of Normandy l There all the host as towards Nice we past, With spoilefull hands laid all the countrie wast.
1611 Bible (King James) Ezek. xxxv. 4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate. View more context for this quotation
1682 W. Beveridge Serm. Excellency & Usefulness Common Prayer 1 When Judas Maccabeus had..repaired the Temple at Hierusalem, after it had been polluted and laid waste.
1796 E. Burke Let. to Noble Lord in Wks. (1843) II. 273 Which, like columns of locusts, have laid waste the fairest part of the world.
1824 T. Campbell Theodric 346 For war laid waste his native land once more.
1876 C. M. Yonge Cameos cxxv, in Monthly Packet Apr. 302 Villages were burnt and laid waste.
1890 S. Lane-Poole Barbary Corsairs i. ix. 96 He laid waste the Apulian coast.
a. Of speech, thought, or action: Profitless, serving no purpose, idle, vain. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [adjective]
idlec825
unnuteOE
bricklec1225
tooma1250
unnaita1250
vaina1300
waste1303
overvoida1382
voida1382
superfluec1384
daylessa1387
unbehovely1390
unprofitablea1398
unbehoveful1429
wastefulc1450
idleful1483
fruster1488
vainful1509
frustrate?a1513
superfluousa1533
addle1534
lost1535
fittle1552
futilea1575
nugatory1605
futilous1607
shiftless1613
tympanous1625
emptya1628
frustraneousa1643
pointless1673
futilitous1765
otiose1795
stultificatory1931
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 1552 Þys nunne was of dedys chaste, But þat she spake wurdys waste She made many of here felawys Þenke on synne for her sawys.
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 1586 Here wurdys were al vyle & waste.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 9359 Þe kyng sey þe sege was wast.
c1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 2184 Haly men thogh[t] þis lyf bot wast, þarfor þair yhernyng til God was mast.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Gen. xvii. 14 For he hath maad my couenant wast [L. irritum fecit; a1425 L.V. he made voide].
c1400 26 Pol. Poems iv. 177 Alle þe þouȝtes ben but wast Wiþoute contemplacioun.
c1430 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 211 My waast expensis y wole with-drawe; Now, certis, ‘waast’ weel callid þei be, for þei were spent, my boost to blowe.
c1440 York Myst. xii. 196 Saue þe, dame, from sak of synne, And wisse þe fro all werkis wast!
1465 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 314 For as for any jndytementes that we schuld labor a-yenst them, it is but wast werk.
1583 B. Rich Phylotus & Emelia (1835) 21 Alas..suche wishes are but waste, and vnpossible it is, that any suche thing should happen.
a1592 R. Greene Comicall Hist. Alphonsus (1599) iv. sig. G2 Ile lay my life, that ere this day be past, You shall perceiue, his tidings all be waste.
1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence Heautontimoroumenos iv. iv, in Terence in Eng. 140 He shall make but a wast errand [L. frustra veniet].
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [adverb]
idlyc825
vainly1382
voidly1402
waste1418
meanly?c1430
toomly1606
impertinently1631
insignificantly1651
objectlessly1860
futilely1881
1418 26 Pol. Poems xiv. 76 Spende waste, passyng his rent, For suche a kyngdom haþ ben shent.
c1440 York Myst. xlii. 87 And spekis now no whare my worde waste.
a1585 A. Montgomerie Flyting with Polwart 690 Gif that my invention wars thine then, Without the whilk thou might haue barked waist.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > non-possession > [adjective] > devoid of something
nakedeOE
toomOE
windia1225
skerec1250
freea1325
expertc1374
unbeseen1390
vacanta1400
devoidc1400
indigent1490
waste1513
clear1569
divesta1679
viduate1692
innocent1706
divested1742
sincerea1754
virgin1889
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xi. vii. 177 Our large feildis and boundis all betwene Left desolate and waist of induellaris.
a1550 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Wemyss) lxxxix. 2916 For statut law first ordanit he That..all ydolis were bot waist Off godheid, and deuillis ware.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 208 Jn the meine tyme King Eugenie and the Peychtes Jnuadet Britannie wast of men of weir, quhen na campe lay in it.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > excessive amount or degree > [adjective] > excessive or superfluous > superfluous or unnecessary
wastec1380
voidc1440
superfluousc1450
supererogative1538
supererogatory1549
supervacaneala1575
supervacaneousa1575
supervacuous1577
supernumerary1617
excrescent1633
expletive1656
expletory1679
supererogant1737
ripieno1781
excrescentitious1833
excrescential1849
fifth-wheel1874
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 5 Þei stryuen nyȝt and day who of hem may bilde gaiest wast housis.
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 14 Þei gederen to hem self many wast and precious cloþes.
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 60 Prelatis..lyue so contrariously aȝenst here [the apostles'] pore lif, in wast seruauntis, in grete fatte hors & nedles.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Eccles. ii. 26 To the synnere forsothe he ȝaf tormenting and wast bisynesse [L. curam superfluam].
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 75 Sum supprise wiþ seruil chargis our religioun, þat our Lord Iħu Crist wold to be fre, in so wast halowing of sacramentis, so þat þe condicoun of Jewis is more suffurable.
1618 W. Lawson New Orchard & Garden (1623) 34 The waste boughs closely and skilfully taken away, would giue vs store of fences and fewell.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > [adjective] > not > empty or unoccupied
emptyOE
unoccupied1425
void1479
vacant1518
waste1574
distenanted1594
tenantlessa1616
empse1642
untenanted1677
dead1879
1574 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xlii. 140 Ȝe se out throw this land How mony waist Kirkis thair dois stand But outher Prayers or Preiching.
a1592 R. Greene Orpharion (1599) 4 I would bestow a little wast time while my Sheepe grase so hard, to holde thee chat.
1615 Life Death etc. Lady Jane Gray C 2 Offering to close vp the book shee found in the end thereof some few leaues of cleane paper vnwritten;..shee took penne and inke and in those wast leaues wrote a most Godly and learned exhortation.
1717 G. Berkeley Jrnls. Trav. Italy 18 May in Wks. (1955) VII. 271 A large waste Inn (i.e. little inhabited for the size having [been] the country palace of some Nobleman).
1725 H. Sloane Voy. Islands II. 217 It is frequently to be met with in large waste houses.
1729 W. Law Serious Call xii. 200 All the hours that are not devoted either to repose, or nourishment, are look'd upon by Succus as waste or spare time.
1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xvi. 135 We took shelter in a waste barn.
1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. 63 I took up my lodging in a waste hut.
1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 20 I was locked up and confined in a waste room.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless
naughteOE
unworthc960
nought worthOE
unworthya1240
vaina1300
lewd1362
base?1510
to be nothing toc1520
stark naught1528
nothing worth1535
worthilessa1542
draffish1543
baggage1548
dunghill?1555
valureless1563
toyish1572
worthless1573
out (forth) of door (also doors)1574
leaden1577
riff-raff1577
drafty1582
fecklessc1586
dudgeon?1589
nought-worth1589
tenpenny1592
wanwordy?a1595
shotten herring1598
nugatory1603
unvalued1604
priceless1614
unvaluable1615
valuelessa1616
waste1616
trashya1620
draffy1624
stramineous1624
invaluable1640
roly-poly?1645
nugatorious1646
perquisquilian1647
niffling1649
lazy1671
wanworth1724
little wortha1754
flimsy1756
waff1788
null1790
nothingy1801
nothingly1802
twopenny-halfpenny1809
not worth a flaw1810
garbage1817
peanut1836
duffing1839
trash1843
no-account1845
no-count1851
punky1859
rummagy1872
junky1880
skilligalee1883
footle1894
punk1896
wherry-go-nimble1901
junk1908
rinky-dink1913
schlock1916
tripe1927
duff1938
chickenshit1940
sheg-up1941
expendable1942
(strictly) for the birds1943
tripey1955
schlocky1960
naff1964
dipshit1968
cack1978
1616 B. Jonson Epigrammes xlvi, in Wks. I. 781 Is this the Sir, who, some wast wife to winne, A knight-hood bought, to goe a wooing in?
9.
a. Of materials, incidental products, etc.: Eliminated or thrown aside as worthless after the completion of a process; refuse.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > refuse or rubbish > [adjective]
refuse1463
waste1678
wasteful1868
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. Pref. sig. A3 How waste and useless would many of the Productions of this and other Countries be, were it not for Manufactures?
1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist 389 Temporary manures, such as soot, bone~dust,..waste yeast..and liquid manures,..are most advantageously applied on the surface of the ground.
1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. ix. 65 The waste droppings of the pump.
1868 F. H. Joynson Metals in Constr. 38 One striking feature of the practical science of the day is the attempts which it has made..to utilise the waste products of our manufactures.
1900 Jrnl. Soc. Dyers & Colourists 16 5 It is obtained from the waste liquors.
1907 J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 33 To carry off the waste developer and washing water.
b. Said of the excreta of animal bodies.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretions > [adjective] > excreted
voided1785
excreted1802
waste1836
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > substance or secretion and excretion > [adjective] > relating to dung
formy1575
stercorary1664
waste1836
1836 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion ii. vi. 310 Besides the bowels, there are several other channels by which the waste materials of the body pass out.
1908 Animal Managem. (War Office) 16 The duty of the kidneys is to filter waste matters from the blood as it circulates through them.
c. waste water (now frequently written as one word), (a) superfluous water, or water that has served its purpose, allowed to run away; (b) water that has been used in some industrial process; (c) sewage; also attributive as waste-water pail, waste-water pipe. waste steam, the superfluous steam discharged from a boiler, or the spent steam discharged from the cylinder of a steam-engine; also attributive in waste-steam pipe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > liquid which has been emitted > overflow > [noun] > of surplus water
waste waterc1450
surabundance?1473
float1523
overflowing1574
waste1587
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > refuse or rubbish > [noun] > waste water
kitchen-lee1638
slop1815
waste water1839
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > refuse or rubbish > [noun] > waste steam
waste steam1839
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > [noun] > dirt removed in cleaning > sewage
sullage1553
soil1603
sulliage1667
sewage1834
sewerage1851
waste water1979
c1450 in Archaeologia 58 301 The goter of breke for þe waste watre.
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 212 This Waste-Water is carried away in Drains.
1791 R. Mylne in Rep. Engineers Commissioners Navigation Thames 33 A gauged long weir should be run across the River, at the waste water draw-lock..and another, upon the Stone tumbling bay.
1839 R. S. Robinson Naut. Steam Engine Explained 122 The waste steam pipe is generally of cast iron or copper, terminating at its upper end in a bell mouth.
1839 R. S. Robinson Naut. Steam Engine Explained 148 The oil, &c., put into the cylinders..is rapidly carried away through the waste water pipe into the sea.
1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 313 When the steam in the boiler exceeds its proper pressure it raises the valve and escapes by a pipe called the waste-steam-pipe.
1854 E. Ronalds & T. Richardson Knapp's Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 100 A current of hot air produced by a fan driven by the waste steam from the apparatus.
1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6130 Foot bath, hot-water jug, and waste-water pail.
1886 J. Barrowman Gloss. Sc. Mining Terms 70 Waste-water, water from old workings.
1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 27 June 6- c/3 The liquifaction process could give off up to 4.8 million gallons of wastewater per day and..there could be another 100 tons of solid waste generated each day by the coal scrubbing process.
1977 N.Z. Herald 8 Jan. ii. 12/7 (advt.) C/1073: M. K. Morrison—to discharge wastewater from State Highway No 1 into Alexandra Creek headwaters..in connection with quarrying operations at Cuthill, Albany.
1979 Arizona Daily Star 1 Apr. d 3/1 Stephen J. Tencza, former project engineer with the Pima County Department of Wastewater Management, has joined John S. Collins & Associates as a project engineer for the firm's sanitary engineering department.
d. Of manufactured articles: Rejected as defective. Also, (e.g. of sheets of a printed book) produced in excess of what can be used.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [adjective] > in specific way: defective or faulty > of material things > of manufactured articles
wastrel1790
water-galled1831
waste1842
the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > excessive amount or degree > [adjective] > excessive or superfluous > in excess of what can be used
waste1892
1842 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 5 201/1 2 per cent. of waste-castings are made.
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 154 Waste cards, defective or rejected cards, usually sold at a cheaper rate than perfect ones.
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. p. xxix Intended for the purpose of using up waste negatives by mounting.
10. As complement in certain phrases. †to fly waste, of a missile, to be discharged uselessly (obsolete). to run waste (? rare) = to run to waste (see waste n. 10).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (intransitive)] > be wasteful > be wasted
to go to wastea1500
to run to waste1511
to flow at waste1641
to fly waste1770
to run waste1814
1770 T. Bridges Burlesque Transl. Homer II. 214 But this good broomstaff ne'er flies waste.
1814 Q. Rev. 11 71 Savages, who suffer the productions of the earth, as well as their own moral and intellectual faculties, to run waste.
1891 M. M. Dowie Girl in Karpathians xx. 274 The talent that was running waste among the village people.
Draft additions September 2021
waste youth n. (often in form waste yute) slang (chiefly Caribbean) a stupid, contemptible, or useless young person; also as a derogatory form of address.
ΚΠ
2009 @WizWreck 25 Apr. in twitter.com (accessed 31 May 2020) [In response to Surely I need a nap someone wake me in 45mins pleeze.] Waste yute.
2018 Irish Mirror (Nexis) 6 Dec. The [Jamaican] reality show winner said..he didn't want people to categorise him as a ‘waste youth’.
2020 @_therealdnice 28 May in twitter.com (accessed 31 May 2020) You're a waste yute and dick ride.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
wastev.
/weɪst/, U.S. /weɪst/ I. Transitive uses.absolute.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 784 For now I see Peace to corrupt no less then Warr to waste . View more context for this quotation1849 W. E. Aytoun Lays Sc. Cavaliers (ed. 2) 73 The Moors have come from Africa To spoil and waste and slay.† 5. † b. reflexive. To ruin one's prospects. Obsolete.† 6. To spoil, diminish the goodness or virtue of, cause to deteriorate. [Compare French gâter.] Obsolete. rare.† 7. To diminish or consume the livelihood of, impoverish (a person). Also reflexive to spend one's substance, impoverish oneself; also with out. Obsolete.† 8. To spend, part with, diminish one's store of (money, property); to spend, pass, occupy (time); to get over (a distance in travelling). Obsolete (cf. 9.)
1. To lay waste, devastate, ravage, ruin (a land or town, its inhabitants, property, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > devastate or lay waste (a place, etc.)
harryc893
fordoc900
awesteeOE
westeeOE
losec950
harrowc1000
destroyc1230
wastec1275
ravishc1325
to lie waste1338
exilea1382
to-wastea1382
unronea1400
desolatea1425
vast1434
fruster?a1513
to lay waste1535
wipe1535
devast1537
depopulate1548
populate1552
forwaste1563
ruinate1564
havoc1575
scourge1576
dispopulate1588
destitute1593
ravage1602
harassa1618
devastate1638
execute1679
to make stroy of1682
to lay in ashes1711
untown1783
hell-rake1830
uncity1850
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11265 [They] scullen þi lond wasten and þiire leoden aslan.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 2880 Þis lond þat was so riche [they] wastede al to noȝte.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19479 Fast þai ras..Gain hali kirc, it for to wast.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 1178 He wast wyth werre þe wones of þorpes.
1463 Stat. Roll Irel. 3 Edw. IV p. 185 Brannyng destruyng and wastyng al the said Ormond is lordships.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Chron. xxiv. 7 Athalia & hir sonnes haue waisted the house of God.
1591 M. Drayton Harmonie of Church sig. B2v Euen as the fire doth the stubble wast.
1596 Raigne of Edward III sig. F1v Some of their strongest Cities we haue wonne..And others wasted . View more context for this quotation
1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes i. § 70. 117 An Epidemicall plague wasted the whole world for three yeares together.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 567 Where casual fire Had wasted woods on Mountain or in Vale. View more context for this quotation
1798 R. Southey Battle of Blenheim viii With fire and sword the country round Was wasted far and wide.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 326 He wasted the lands of the Mackintoshes.
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xvii. 285 He fell suddenly on the Nervii with four legions, seized their cattle, wasted their country.
2. Law. To destroy, injure, impair, damage (property); to cause to deteriorate in value; to suffer to fall into decay. Cf. waste n. 7.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > cause bad condition in [verb (transitive)] > dilapidate
wastec1450
dilapidate1570
c1450 Godstow Reg. 240 So nathelesse that they shold not hegge, wast, nother turne hit [a wood] into tylthe.
?1530 St. German's Dyaloge Doctoure & Student xxiii. f. xlviiv To restore the place wasted immedyatlye after the waste done.
1543 tr. Act 6 Edw. I c. 5 And who that is attaynted of wast, shal lese the thing wasted.
1581 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha (1588) ii. vii. 291 If a man command one to set fire on the house of A,..and by kindling the same fire the house of B. is wasted also.
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. i. 355 b In an Action of Wast..the place wasted is the principall.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) ii. x. 236 In the Survey of Gloucester there are reckoned 23 Burgages and Houses; 16 that were demolished for the building of the Castle, 14 that were wasted.
3. To consume, use up, wear away, exhaust, diminish (a thing) by gradual loss; †to reduce in numbers (a family); †to wear out (clothes); †to sell out (an edition); †to evaporate (a liquid). Also with away. Obsolete except with mixture of sense 9.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > cause bad condition in [verb (transitive)] > cause to waste away
wastec1230
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > using up, expending, or consuming > use up, expend, or consume [verb (transitive)] > use up completely or exhaust > gradually
wastec1230
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > cause bad condition in [verb (transitive)] > cause to waste away > wear away or down > wear out > specific clothes and the like
overwear1415
wastec1480
outrun1592
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)] > reduce in quantity or number
thinc1440
depopulate1545
shorten1604
disquantity1608
waste1617
dequantitate1646
paucify1648
castrate1728
shrink1832
the world > matter > gas > becoming or making into gas > make into gas or produce gas from [verb (transitive)] > make into vapour > evaporate
dryc1350
to dry upc1385
consumea1398
vapour1530
exhale1589
exhalate1599
waste1639
evaporate1646
avolate1673
c1230 Hali Meid. 29 Þer as muchel is, eauer se þer mare is, se ma beoð þat hit wasteð.
c1350 Leg. Rood iii. 746 For so þai trowed þat mens fete..Suld cum and ga all ouer þat tre So þat it suld wasted be.
c1425 MS. Sloane 73 lf. 201 Whanne þi colour in þi saflour bagge is al wastid or elles ny by wastid.
c1480 (a1400) St. Mary of Egypt 1002 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 325 Vthyr clathis had I nane þane I brocht oure flume Iordane; bot in few ȝeris clene war þai for gret elde wastit a-way.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iv. l. 579 Fyfteyn that day he schot to dede of hys hand. Be that his arrous waistyt war and gayne.
1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes i. xix. 60 In the meane whyle thy prouysions and stores be wasted awaye.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid x. iv. 28 The ile..Sa rich of steill it may nocht wastit be.
1559 tr. T. Geminus Compendios a Totius Anat. (new ed.) 4/2 The former impressions bothe are nowe wasted.
1577 J. Grange Garden in Golden Aphroditis sig. Sivv My penne is stubbed, my paper spente, my Inke wasted.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. G3v To..wast huge stones with little water drops. View more context for this quotation
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies ii. vii. 99 The waxe melts nor droppes not, for that the flame doth waste it by little and little as it riseth.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 3 During the said civill warre..most of the Noble Families were wasted and some destroied.
1639 O. Wood Alphabet. Bk. Physicall Secrets 189 Boyle all these [herbs] in white wine till the wine be wasted.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1680 (1955) IV. 237 After many daies..the Comet was..much wasted.
1702 V. Mandey tr. J. J. Hainlin Synopsis Mathematica: Theoret. Arithm. i. 17 Repeat this Process, until all the figures of the Dividend be wasted.
1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 17 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) We have wrought..all the Coal we can, with safety venture to Work or take away; and so by chance have Wrought, or waisted the Colliery.
1740 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (ed. 2) App. p. ix When the vat is wasted, fill it with the lee.
1747 J. Wesley Primitive Physick 100 It both wastes the Stone, and brings it away.
1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery vi. 63 Let it [sc. gravy soup] stew over a slow Fire, till half is wasted.
1845 J. Phillips & C. G. B. Daubeny Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. VI. 702/1 The felspathic portion of the hypersthene rocks of Carrock Fell is so wasted that the crystals of hypersthene and magnetic iron are projected from the surface considerably.
4. † b. reflexive. To consume one's strength or faculties.
a. To consume or destroy (a person or living thing, his body, strength) by decay or disease; to cause to pine, emaciate, enfeeble; to undermine the vitality or strength of. Also with away, †up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > cause to be ill [verb (transitive)] > make weak
fellOE
wastec1230
faintc1386
endull1395
resolvea1398
afaintc1400
defeat?c1400
dissolvec1400
weakc1400
craze1476
feeblish1477
debilite1483
overfeeble1495
plucka1529
to bring low1530
debilitate1541
acraze1549
decaya1554
infirma1555
weaken1569
effeeble1571
enervate1572
enfeeble1576
slay1578
to pull downa1586
prosternate1593
shake1594
to lay along1598
unsinew1598
languefy1607
enerve1613
pulla1616
dispirit1647
imbecilitate1647
unstring1700
to run down1733
sap1755
reduce1767
prostrate1780
shatter1785
undermine1812
imbecile1829
disinvigorate1844
devitalize1849
wreck1850
atrophy1865
crumple1892
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > wasting disease > affect with wasting disease [verb (transitive)]
wastec1230
forpinec1275
pinea1325
corrodec1400
rust1493
macerate1547
forwaste1563
tabefy1656
tabid1661
colliquate1666
undermine1879
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 73 Alswa wið ute wisdom flesch as wurm forfret hire & wasteð hire seoluen.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 27934 It [lechery] wastes bodi and als catel.
c1400 Laud Troy Bk. 5787 Menescen myght was almost wast.
14.. Tundale's Vis. 882 (Wagner) In stronge fire þai brenned ay, Tille þai were nere wasted away.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 2156 Loo the ook, that..hath so long a lyf..Yet at the laste, wasted is the tree.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Cock & Fox l. 519 in Poems (1981) 24 Waistit he wes, off nature cauld and dry.
a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 54/1 Ye shal al se in what wise that sorceres and that other witch of her counsel shoris wife..haue by their sorcery & witchcraft wasted my body.
1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus ii. i. sig. Hij My bely or panche is all wasted quyte vp or shronke to gether (with lankenesse).
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. x. sig. Mm8v But through long anguish, and selfe-murdring thought He was so wasted and forpined quight, That all his substance was consum'd to nought.
1595 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 iii. ii. 125 Would he were wasted marrow, bones and all.
1629 J. Ford Lovers Melancholy iv. 66 The span of time Doth waste vs to our graues.
1686 tr. J. Chardin Coronation Solyman 11 in Trav. Persia A Potion, that should waste him by degrees.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. ix. 129 He feared my daughter's life was already too much wasted to keep me long a prisoner.
1809 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 21 363 These symptoms continued three or four days, and wasted the patients very much.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering I. iv. 53 He wasted his eyes in observing the stars.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xlviii. 445 We were wasted with ennui.
1861 M. Pattison in Westm. Rev. Apr. 405 French wars..which wasted our strength.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > weariness or exhaustion > weary or exhaust [verb (reflexive)]
strain1377
overwork1530
overtire1558
toil1560
spend1594
overtask1628
waste1630
unbowel1647
to run off one's legs (also feet)1666
overexert1817
muck1819
tew1825
overdo1858
to burn out, forth1955
1630 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. §lxxi Blessed be the memory of those his faithfull Servants, that haue left their bloud, their spirits, their liues, in these precious Papers; and haue willingly wasted themselues into these during Monuments, to giue light vnto others.
c. To beat up, kill, murder (someone); to devastate a place, to kill its inhabitants. slang (originally and chiefly U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > killing > man-killing or homicide > murder or assassination > murder or assassinate [verb (transitive)]
amurderOE
murderc1175
homicidec1470
murdresc1480
murtrish1490
manquell1548
slaughter1582
massacre1591
assassinate1600
remove1609
assassin1620
to do the business for a person1759
Septembrize1794
croak1823
square1888
shift1898
to take out1900
to bump off1907
bump1914
to do in1914
to put out1917
to knock off1919
terminate1920
to give (a person) the works1929
scrag1930
snuff1932
wash1941
waste1964
wipe1968
to terminate with extreme prejudice1969
neutralize1970
snuff1973
stiff1974
1964 P. Marshall in J. H. Clarke Harlem U.S.A. 317 Stomping and wasting our Little People.
1964 P. Marshall in J. H. Clarke Harlem 319 You..president..since Duke got wasted?
1966 J. M. Brewer in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 240/2 I wasted (punched) one of the studs.
1971 Guardian 2 Apr. 12/2 The intention to ‘waste’ My Lai.
1975 C. Weston Susannah Screaming xxix. 147 They wasted Barrett because he blew their deal.
1977 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 21 Sept. 2/4 I think Simone has been wasted (killed) by the southern heavies.
1981 M. C. Smith Gorky Park i. xii. 177 You want to go chasing after the guy who wasted your detective.
a. To destroy, annihilate, put an end to (something immaterial, e.g. sin, sorrow). Also with away. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > bring to ruin or put an end to
undoc950
shendOE
forfarea1000
endc1000
to do awayOE
aquenchc1175
slayc1175
slayc1175
stathea1200
tinea1300
to-spilla1300
batec1300
bleschea1325
honisha1325
leesea1325
wastec1325
stanch1338
corrumpa1340
destroy1340
to put awayc1350
dissolvec1374
supplanta1382
to-shend1382
aneantizec1384
avoidc1384
to put outa1398
beshenda1400
swelta1400
amortizec1405
distract1413
consumec1425
shelfc1425
abroge1427
downthringc1430
kill1435
poisonc1450
defeat1474
perish1509
to blow away1523
abrogatea1529
to prick (also turn, pitch) over the perka1529
dash?1529
to bring (also send) to (the) pot1531
put in the pot1531
wipea1538
extermine1539
fatec1540
peppera1550
disappoint1563
to put (also set) beside the saddle1563
to cut the throat of1565
to throw (also turn, etc.) over the perch1568
to make a hand of (also on, with)1569
demolish1570
to break the neck of1576
to make shipwreck of1577
spoil1578
to knock on (in) the head (also rarely at head)1579
cipher1589
ruinate1590
to cut off by the shins1592
shipwreck1599
exterminate1605
finish1611
damnify1612
ravel1614
braina1616
stagger1629
unrivet1630
consummate1634
pulverizea1640
baffle1649
devil1652
to blow up1660
feague1668
shatter1683
cook1708
to die away1748
to prove fatal (to)1759
to knock up1764
to knock (or kick) the hindsight out or off1834
to put the kibosh on1834
to cook (rarely do) one's goose1835
kibosh1841
to chaw up1843
cooper1851
to jack up1870
scuttle1888
to bugger up1891
jigger1895
torpedo1895
on the fritz1900
to put paid to1901
rot1908
down and out1916
scuppera1918
to put the skids under1918
stonker1919
liquidate1924
to screw up1933
cruel1934
to dig the grave of1934
pox1935
blow1936
to hit for six1937
to piss up1937
to dust off1938
zap1976
c1325 Metr. Hom. 11 He sal wit the haligaste Baptiz you and your sinnes waste.
c1340 R. Rolle Prose Treat. 3 This name Ihesu..wastys discorde, reformes pese.
c1400 Rule St. Benet (Verse) 844 Befor godes sight I salbe clene, Yf I waste myne euil dedes bedene.
c1440 York Myst. ii. 52 The more lyght sall be namid þe son, dymnes to wast be downe and be dale.
1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 8v Derysion and scornyng putteth away and wastith loue as the fiere doth the bronde.
?a1500 Chester Pl., Magi's Oblation 55 Stench of the Stable it [incense] shall wast.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Zech. xi. 3 The pryde off Iordane is waisted awaye.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Nov. 201 Ceasse now my song, my woe now wasted is.
1591 H. Savile tr. Tacitus Ende of Nero: Fower Bks. Hist. i. 24 There is question, whether the present feare wasted his speech, or els that he cried aloude.
1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper iii. 173 He doth by his Word and Spirit, waste and take away all hatreds, enmities, and antipathies.
1689 Lady Russell Lett. II. ci. 42 No time..can ever waste my sorrow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy oneself [verb (reflexive)]
spillc950
waste1548
wrack1564
spoil1578
ruin1585
consume1606
death warrant1721
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. xlix Perkyn, whether it greued him to be kept inwarde, or els..because he woulde wilfully wast & cast away him selfe, studied how to escape & flye away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > cause bad condition in [verb (transitive)]
infect?1440
poison?a1513
violate1555
spoil1563
vitiate1572
waste1572
1572 J. Higgins Huloets Dict. (rev. ed.) To waste, or spylle, conspurco, deprauo, disperdo.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. xii. 66 That time shall not wast it,..mix it with Brandy.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > make poor or impoverish [verb (transitive)]
destroy1297
poverisha1382
apoora1400
impover1418
poora1425
dispurveyc1430
impoverish1440
beggar1528
weaken1530
ruinate1547
ruin1560
depauper1562
depoverish1569
craze1573
soak1577
sift1591
waste1599
impoor1613
uncluea1616
depauperate1623
disenrich1647
necessitate1647
erumnate1676
straiten1699
poorify1711
pauperize1806
pauperate1839
pauper1841
to clear out1884
immiserate1956
penny-pincha1961
immiserize1971
the mind > possession > poverty > impoverish oneself [verb (reflexive)]
ruinate1547
ruin1585
waste1599
worsen1828
worser1851
1599 E. Sandys Europæ Speculum (1632) 191 Before they wast out them selves in giving ayde unto him.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iv. ii. 190 I haue wasted my selfe out of meanes. View more context for this quotation
1655 M. Carter Anal. Honor in Honor Rediv. 54 King Steven..is said to have wasted the Crown by the many of them [sc. Earls] that he created.
1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Ragguagli di Parnasso (1674) i. lxiv. 80 Many people having wasted themselves in keeping great Tables.
1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. vi. 82 He has been obliged to trade for less and less, 'till at last he is wasted and reduc'd.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > spending time > spend time or allow time to pass [verb (transitive)]
overdoOE
adreeOE
wreaka1300
to draw forthc1300
dispend1340
pass1340
drivea1375
wastec1381
occupyc1384
overpassa1387
to pass over ——a1393
usec1400
spend1423
contrive?a1475
overdrive1487
consumea1500
to pass forth1509
to drive off1517
lead1523
to ride out1529
to wear out, forth1530
to pass away?1550
to put offc1550
shiftc1562
to tire out1563
wear1567
to drive out1570
entertainc1570
expire1589
tire1589
outwear1590
to see out1590
outrun1592
outgo1595
overshoot1597
to pass out1603
fleeta1616
elapse1654
term1654
trickle1657
to put over1679
absorb1686
spin1696
exercise1711
kill1728
to get through ——1748
to get over ——1751
tickc1870
fill1875
society > travel > [verb (transitive)] > traverse a distance or ground
runeOE
overcomeOE
meteOE
through-gangOE
passc1300
to pass over ——c1300
overpassc1325
tracec1381
travela1393
traverse?a1400
travelc1400
measure?a1425
walkc1450
go1483
journey1531
peragrate1542
trade1548
overspin1553
overtrace1573
tract1579
progress1587
invade1590
waste1590
wear1596
march1606
void1608
recovera1625
expatiate1627
lustrate1721
do1795
slip1817
cover1818
clear1823
track1823
itinerate1830
betravel1852
to roll off1867
society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > spend [verb (transitive)]
aspendc885
doOE
spendc1175
spenec1175
dispendc1330
bewarec1374
bestow1377
suckc1380
unpursea1393
warea1417
stowc1440
to lay outc1449
spone1456
expend1477
expend1484
impendc1486
ware?a1513
deburse?1529
disburse1530
defray1543
unburse1570
outlay1573
to lay forth1584
sweat1592
vent1612
dispursea1616
exhaust1616
to set forth1622
waste1639
depursea1648
fence1699
douse1759
shut1797
shift1923
c1381 G. Chaucer Parl. Foules 283 Of maydenys swiche as gunne here tymys waste In hyre seruyse.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. ix. sig. V4 So talked they, the whiles They wasted had much way, and measurd many miles.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iii. iv. 12 Companions that doe conuerse and wast the time together. View more context for this quotation
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. ii. x. §4. 390 Fourteene Kings of Iuda comming betweene, who wasted three hundred and odde yeares.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. iv. 94 I like this place, and willingly could Waste my time in it. View more context for this quotation
1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 321 They related the whole circumstance of their theft, whereof they had wasted a very small matter.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 820 Fair Patrimonie That I must leave ye, Sons; O were I able To waste it all my self, and leave ye none! View more context for this quotation
1673 J. Milton Sonnets xvii, in Poems (new ed.) 60 Where shall we sometimes meet, and by the fire Help wast a sullen day.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 400 The Goddess wasts her Days In joyous Songs.
1718 A. Ramsay Christ's-kirk on Green iii. 28 Wasted was baith Cash and Tick, Sae ill were they to sloken.
1764 H. Walpole Castle of Otranto iv I will withdraw into the neighbouring monastery, and waste the remainder of life in prayers and tears for my child.
a1771 T. Gray Imit. Propertius in Wks. (1814) II. 88. Each in his proper art should waste the day.
9. In unfavourable sense: To spend, consume, employ uselessly or without adequate result. (Now the most prominent use.)† b. with away. Obsolete.
a. To consume, expend, bestow (money, property) uselessly, with needless lavishness or without adequate return; to make prodigal or improvident use of; to squander. Const. in, on.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > squandering or prodigality > squander [verb (transitive)]
forspendc893
scatter1154
dispend1303
waste1340
misspendc1390
miswastec1400
consumec1425
waste1474
profund1527
lasha1535
prodige1538
lavish1542
to play away1562
riot1566
embezzle1578
dilapidate1590
squander1593
confound1598
to make ducks and drakes of or withc1600
prodigalize1611
profuse1611
squander1611
paddle1616
bezzle1617
to run out of ——1622
to piss away1628
prodigal1628
decoct1629
to bangle (away)1632
debauch1632
deboise1632
to fribble away1633
to fool out1635
to run outa1640
to fiddle away1667
slattera1681
dissipate1682
to play off1693
duck-and-drake1700
liquidate1702
sparkle away1703
waster1821
befool1861
to frivol away1866
to play (at) duck and drake with1872
to fling away1873
mislive1887
slather1904
mucker1928
profligate1938
peter1956
spaff2002
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (transitive)] > waste
spilla1000
scatter1154
aspilla1250
rospa1325
waste1340
spend1390
consumec1425
waste1474
miswenda1500
forsumea1510
to cast away1530
to throw away1561
embezzle1578
squander1593
palter1595
profuse1611
squander1611
ravel1614
sport1622
to fool away1628
to stream out1628
to fribble away1633
sweal1655
frisk1665
to fiddle away1667
wantonize1673
slattera1681
swattle1681
drivel1686
swatter1690
to muddle away1707
squander1717
sot1746
slattern1747
meisle1808
fritter1820
waster1821
slobber1837
to cut to waste1863
fringe1863
potter1883
putter1911
profligate1938
to piddle away1942
haemorrhage1978
spaff2002
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 19 Me halt ane man wod..þet..þe timliche guodes þet he heþ ine lokinge,..wasteþ and despendeþ ine folyes and ine outrages.
1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 292 We holde hit nedful to nime þat nouht may be wastid.
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 13 Ȝif þei wasten delicat metis and drynkis and ȝeuen nouȝt to pore men.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke xv. 13 And there he wastide his substaunce in lyuynge leccherously.
c1450 Knt. de la Tour 65 With that that was wasted of her clothes, she might haue clothed .ij. or .iij., the whiche deied for colde.
c1480 (a1400) St. Matthias 254 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 229 Quhene Iudas saw..þe vngymente wes vastit swa.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. v. 49 Therefore I part with him,..to one that I would haue him helpe to wast his borrowed purse. View more context for this quotation
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xxxv. 314 His irregularities and extravagance had already wasted a large part of his mother's little fortune.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People iii. §5. 141 A sixth of the royal revenue was wasted in pensions to foreign favourites.
1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 78 Your father..Had wasted his estate with cards and dice.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > squandering or prodigality > squander [verb (transitive)]
forspendc893
scatter1154
dispend1303
waste1340
misspendc1390
miswastec1400
consumec1425
waste1474
profund1527
lasha1535
prodige1538
lavish1542
to play away1562
riot1566
embezzle1578
dilapidate1590
squander1593
confound1598
to make ducks and drakes of or withc1600
prodigalize1611
profuse1611
squander1611
paddle1616
bezzle1617
to run out of ——1622
to piss away1628
prodigal1628
decoct1629
to bangle (away)1632
debauch1632
deboise1632
to fribble away1633
to fool out1635
to run outa1640
to fiddle away1667
slattera1681
dissipate1682
to play off1693
duck-and-drake1700
liquidate1702
sparkle away1703
waster1821
befool1861
to frivol away1866
to play (at) duck and drake with1872
to fling away1873
mislive1887
slather1904
mucker1928
profligate1938
peter1956
spaff2002
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (transitive)] > waste
spilla1000
scatter1154
aspilla1250
rospa1325
waste1340
spend1390
consumec1425
waste1474
miswenda1500
forsumea1510
to cast away1530
to throw away1561
embezzle1578
squander1593
palter1595
profuse1611
squander1611
ravel1614
sport1622
to fool away1628
to stream out1628
to fribble away1633
sweal1655
frisk1665
to fiddle away1667
wantonize1673
slattera1681
swattle1681
drivel1686
swatter1690
to muddle away1707
squander1717
sot1746
slattern1747
meisle1808
fritter1820
waster1821
slobber1837
to cut to waste1863
fringe1863
potter1883
putter1911
profligate1938
to piddle away1942
haemorrhage1978
spaff2002
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. viii. 147 He that of custome hath had haboundance of moneye and goth and dispendith hit folily and wasteth hit away.
a1600 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie vii. xxii, in Wks. (1662) 59 When Mary to testifie the largeness of her affection, seemed to waste away a gift upon him.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 252. ⁋2 I have a Sot of a Husband..that wastes away his Body and Fortune in Debaucheries.
1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 340 Those who had wasted away their Substance.
c. absol.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > squandering or prodigality > squander or be prodigal [verb (intransitive)]
waste1390
lasha1560
squander1593
to play the prodigal1602
outlash1611
wanton1646
to light (also burn) the candle at both ends1736
extravagate1871
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (intransitive)] > be wasteful
to make, do waste1390
waste1390
wanton1646
to throw the baby out with the bath1860
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 139 I bidde noght that thou do wast, Bot hold largesce in his mesure.
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. viii. 147 Yet she doth harme and domage to hym that so wasteth.
1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres i. lix. sig. D3 Now he exactes of all, wasts in delight, Riots in pleasure.
a1641 T. Mun England's Treasure (1664) 218 Let Princes oppress,..Usurers bite, Prodigals wast.
1855 H. G. Bohn Handbk. Prov. 551 Waste not, want not.
d. to waste words, to waste breath, †to waste wind: to speak to no purpose; †also reflexive in the same sense. Similarly to waste paper, to waste space (i.e. in writing).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > be of no avail [verb (intransitive)] > expend effort in vain > speak in vain
to waste breathc1540
to waste (one's) breath1572
to talk to a brick wall1873
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > speak in vain [verb (reflexive)]
to waste wordsa1647
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > be of no avail [verb (intransitive)] > expend effort in vain > write in vain
to waste space1709
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 9788 But all þaire wordis þai wast, & þaire wynd alse.
1568 R. Henryson in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1930) IV. 211 Of þis mater I do bot waistis wind.
1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) sig. Kiv v Meaning no more at this time to build Castles in the aire, nor wast my wordes to a deafe man.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) ii. ii. 74 You but waste your words . View more context for this quotation
a1647 T. Habington Surv. Worcs. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.) (1895) I. i. 91 That I may not heereafter wast my sealfe in tedyous repetitions.
1667 J. Dryden Indian Emperour iii. iii. 35 In weak complaints you vainly wast your breath.
1709 G. Berkeley Ess. New Theory of Vision §137. 161 As for the Idea of Motion in Abstract, I shall not waste Paper about it.
1812 P. B. Shelley Addr. in Prose Wks. (1888) I. 226 A great many words were wasted, and a great deal of blood shed.
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 214 Without wasting any more time and space, I will proceed to describe the drawings.
1905 R. Bagot Passport xxxv. 405 We need not waste words in coming to our point.
e. To spend, pass, occupy (time, one's life, etc.) idly or unprofitably. Const. in, on, †to, and infinitive. Also with away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > spending time > spend time or allow time to pass [verb (transitive)] > waste time
leese?c1225
losea1340
defer1382
wastea1400
slip1435
consumea1500
superexpend1513
slow?1522
sloth1523
to fode forth1525
slack1548
dree1584
sleuth1584
confound1598
spenda1604
to fret out1608
to spin out1608
misplace1609
spend1614
tavern1628
devast1632
to drill away, on, outa1656
dulla1682
to dally away1685
squander1693
to linger awaya1704
dangle1727
dawdle1768
slim1812
diddle1826
to run out the clock1957
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 252 To wast þair liif in trofel and truandis.
1495 Act 11 Hen. VII c. 22 §4 Divers artificers..waste moch part of the day and deserve not their wagis.
a1547 Earl of Surrey tr. Virgil Certain Bks. Aenæis (1557) ii. sig. Aii The war, Wherin they wasted had so many yeres.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) i. i. 51 But wherefore waste I time to counsaile thee. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) i. iv. 4 He fishes, drinkes, and wastes The Lampes of night in reuell. View more context for this quotation
1654 T. Gataker Disc. Apol. 103 Not to wast pretious time..in dealing with their filth.
1656 A. Cowley Extasie in Pindaric Odes i I have no time in Complements to wast.
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. vi. 29 Oh indolent! to waste thy hours away!
1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero I. vi. 418 When Clodius rose afterwards to speak, he endeavoured to wast the time so, as to hinder their coming to any resolution that day.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) xv. 149 But I waste your time, Sir...I know its value, Sir. I will not detain you.
1881 Temple Bar LXI. 403 I am afraid mademoiselle allowed you to waste a great deal of time in novel-reading.
1884 Manch. Examiner 21 May 5/1 The sole aim of the mover..was to waste the time of the House.
1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xi. 18 Lads that waste the light in sighing.
f. To employ, put forth (energy, effort, qualities, talents) uselessly or without adequate return. Also reflexive. Const. on, upon, over.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > be of no avail to [verb (transitive)] > expend (effort, time, or speech) in vain
spilla1225
tinec1330
waste1340
forwaste1563
1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 238 Hit wasteþ no wisdam weihes to lere.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 329 And kep that thou thi witt ne waste Upon thi thoght in aventure.
1728 E. Young Love of Fame: Universal Passion (ed. 2) iii. 71 Not all on books their criticism waste.
1854 F. D. Maurice Moral & Metaphysical Philos. (ed. 2) II. 90 It seems to us that in general too many lamentations are wasted over lost books.
1856 N. Brit. Rev. 26 258 The temporary character of the subjects on which he wasted himself.
1857 J. Ruskin Polit. Econ. Art i. 76 We..waste our labour on things that vanish.
1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 10 Good causes lost and noble effort wasted.
1878 W. S. Jevons Polit. Econ. 30 No one is so foolish as to spend his labour in a place where it would be wasted altogether.
1886 ‘M. Gray’ Silence of Dean Maitland I. i. x He did not, however, waste much thought on this trivial incident.
1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn II. lxvi. 327 To..retire to Spain with the memories of talents wasted, for the most part, over things vain and vile.
g. To bestow on unappreciative recipients.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > giving > give [verb (transitive)] > give to unappreciative recipient
waste1751
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > be of no avail to [verb (transitive)] > expend (effort, time, or speech) in vain > bestow on unappreciative recipients
waste1751
1751 T. Gray Elegy xiv. 8 Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II i. xviii. 17 Why, Nature, waste thy wonders on such men?
h. In passive (without distinct reference to an agent). Of something appealing to intelligence or sensibility: To fail to be appreciated; to make no impression on a person. Of a person, his qualities or abilities: To have no opportunity for distinction or usefulness.
ΚΠ
1898 A. M. Binstead Pink 'Un & Pelican 1 Our kindly host..gave it as his unsolicited opinion that two such amusing liars as we were utterly wasted on after-dinner oratory.
1905 ‘G. Thorne’ Lost Cause v. 139 ‘You ought to have been on the music hall stage, vicar,’ Mrs. Stiffe said, ‘you're wasted in Hornham.’
1923 N.E.D. at Waste Mod. As I had not read the book, the allusion was wasted on me. He is a profound scholar, but quite wasted as a village schoolmaster.
i. To fail to take advantage of, ‘throw away’ (an opportunity).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (transitive)] > fail to take use or advantage of
leese?c1225
losea1340
missa1628
waste1836
maunder1846
1836 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece III. 455 The secret correspondence..which induced him to waste the irresistible opportunity of a safe retreat.
1856 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 111 It was not likely that they would waste an opportunity thrust upon them by Providence.
j. To cause or allow (a substance, physical energy) to be used unprofitably or lost.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (transitive)] > waste > cause or allow to be wasted
waste1826
1826 D. Booth Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 3 Every particle of matter may be used, and none wasted.
1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. xvii. 457 If these bridges of communication be small, much power will be wasted.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps ii. viii. 265 A considerable portion of the heat..is wasted by radiation.
1920 Conquest June 400/2 The invaluable by-products are all wasted and escape into the air in the form of smoke.
10. To reduce (paper, books) to ‘waste’: see waste n. 11d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > pressing, pressure, or squeezing > press or squeeze [verb (transitive)] > reduce printed matter to a pulp
waste1883
pulp1898
1883 Fortn. Rev. Apr. 499 Many unsaleable books..are ‘wasted’, that is, are sent to the mill, ground up, pulped down, and made again into paper.
II. Intransitive uses.† 13. To lose quality, deteriorate, spoil. (Cf. 6.)
11.
a. Of a person or living thing: To lose strength, health, or vitality; to lose flesh or substance, pine, decay; to become gradually weak or enfeebled.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > be in ill health [verb (intransitive)] > be weak > become weak
of-fall?a1200
fail?c1225
wastea1300
languisha1325
defail1340
languora1375
defaulta1382
wastea1387
faintc1450
mortifyc1475
hink?a1500
traik?a1513
droopc1540
unquick1595
macerate1598
dodder1617
lachanize1623
smartle1673
break1726
go1748
sink1780
wilt1787
falter1799
weaken1886
to go down1892
to go out of curl1924
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > wasting disease > have wasting disease [verb (intransitive)]
dwinec1000
shrinkc1000
swindOE
wastea1300
pinea1325
rot1340
tapishc1375
wastea1387
consume1495
decaya1538
winder1600
pule1607
moch1818
to run down1826
tabefy1891
a1300 Body & Soul in Mapes' Poems (Camden) 336 In unlust for to lye, waste, wane.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. ix. 1130 Þe addre..absteyneþ and wasteþ [emended in ed. to fasteþ] many dayes þat his skynne may so þe esiloker be departed fro þe fleissh.
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 1057 A tre without[en] more, That may nat bowe, ne bere fruyte, but root, & euer wast.
c1460 Wisdom 437 in Macro Plays 50 Wan þey haue wastyde by feyntnes, Than febyll þer wyttis.
1622 G. Wither Faire-virtue sig. K4v Shall I wasting in Dispaire, Dye because a Womans faire?
1630 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. §lxi I had rather waste with worke, then batten with ease.
1635 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Donzella Desterrada 210 His griefe augmenting his feaver whilst his spirits hourely wasted.
1794 R. B. Sheridan Duenna (new ed.) iii. 66 Ye..gormandize, and thrive..while we are wasting in mortification.
1800 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 3 443 Her appetite declines, her strength and flesh gradually waste.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop ii. lxiv. 157 In these slow tortures of his dread disease, the unfortunate Richard lay wasting and consuming inch by inch.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley II. ix. 207 Life wastes fast in such vigils as Caroline had of late but too often kept.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. III. 925 The patient is wasting.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 216 Almost simultaneously..the deltoid begins to waste.
b. with away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > be in ill health [verb (intransitive)] > be weak > become weak
of-fall?a1200
fail?c1225
wastea1300
languisha1325
defail1340
languora1375
defaulta1382
wastea1387
faintc1450
mortifyc1475
hink?a1500
traik?a1513
droopc1540
unquick1595
macerate1598
dodder1617
lachanize1623
smartle1673
break1726
go1748
sink1780
wilt1787
falter1799
weaken1886
to go down1892
to go out of curl1924
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > wasting disease > have wasting disease [verb (intransitive)]
dwinec1000
shrinkc1000
swindOE
wastea1300
pinea1325
rot1340
tapishc1375
wastea1387
consume1495
decaya1538
winder1600
pule1607
moch1818
to run down1826
tabefy1891
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 371 Þe þridde age is elde..and wasteþ alle away.
c1430 Two Cookery-bks. i. 25 In cas þe lycoure wast a-way, caste more of þe same wyne þer-to.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xiiii If dry wether come it [sc. grass] wyll dry & burne vpon the grounde & wast it away.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 4035 Wyndis wastid away, warmyt the ayre.
1611 Bible (King James) Job xiv. 10 But man dyeth, and wasteth away. View more context for this quotation
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 289. ¶2 Were we not counted out by an intelligent Supervisor, we should sometimes be over-charg'd with Multitudes, and at others waste away into a Desart.
1755 J. Wesley Primitive Physick (ed. 5) 94 (note) Such a Degree of the Scurvy, as causes the Flesh to waste away.
1775 S. Johnson Taxation no Tyranny 19 From this time Independence perceptibly wasted away.
1841 J. H. Newman Corr. (1917) 163 For centuries she [sc. the Church] has been wasting away, because persons have made the best of things and palliated serious faults.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xlviii. 478 I know I'm wasting away... Burgess and Co. have altered my measure, I'm in that state of thinness.
c. Sport. To reduce one's weight by training. Also reflexive (with down).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > slim [verb (intransitive)] > thin > by training
waste1761
to train down1838
the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > slim [verb (reflexive)] > by training
waste1856
1761 G. Colman Jealous Wife v. iii. 96 I have wasted three Stone at least.
1832 P. Egan Bk. Sports 186/1 Fitzpatrick [a jockey] caught cold in wasting, and died in the prime of life.
1833 Q. Rev. 49 398 Being occasionally called upon to waste, he [a jockey] feels the inconvenience of his disorder.
1856 ‘The Druid’ Post & Paddock xii. 208 He resumed the sweaters, and wasted himself down to a ghastly 7 st. 3 lb. shadow.
1880 W. Day Racehorse in Training xvii. 167 When my father trained, he often wasted by walking on the Downs.
12.
a. Of material things: To be used up or worn away; to lose substance or volume by gradual loss or wear or decay. †Of the moon: To wane (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > deteriorate in condition [verb (intransitive)] > waste away
wastec1400
wear1414
consume1526
worna1538
absume1590
smartle1673
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > become reduced in size or extent [verb (intransitive)] > gradually > by loss of substance
wastec1400
to fall away1527
ablate1914
the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > phase > pass through phase [verb (intransitive)] > wane
wane971
wanzec1175
waste1600
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1919) 39 And þanne þei schewen the bussch þat brenned & wasted nought.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 2159 Considreth eek how þt the harde stoon Vnder oure foot on which we ryde and goon It wasteth as it lyth by the weye.
c1480 (a1400) St. Katherine 126 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 445 All ydolis of stok & stane mone nedling rot, & wast, & wane.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxxxii Promysynge mountaynes of golde, wihiche turned into snowe and wasted to water.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 38v Euphues had rather shrinke in the weeting, then wast in the wearing.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. ix. 42 He shall mowe and cut downe his corne with sythe, the moone wasting.
1618 W. Lawson New Orchard & Garden (1623) vi. 12 Dry wall of earth, and dry Ditches, are the worst fences saue pales or railes, and doe waste the soonest.
1622 J. Taylor Shilling B 5 The whilst a Candle in the Kitchin wasts.
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 202 Cramme not in People, by sending too fast, Company, after Company; But rather hearken how they waste, and send Supplies proportionably.
1747 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 28/2 In two months time, the liquor will waste a quart.
1873 E. Gosse On Viol & Flute 53 Plashing with slow feet The warm and tidal pools that wasted there.
a1918 D. W. Forrest in Mem. etc. (1919) 160 ‘The more the marble wastes’, said..Michael Angelo, ‘the more the statue grows’.
b. Of riches, non-material things: To be consumed or spent; to dwindle or disappear by gradual loss or diminution.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > decrease in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (intransitive)]
littleOE
setc1000
wanzec1175
lessc1225
allayc1275
wane1297
slaken1303
disincreasec1374
slakec1380
decrease1382
debatea1400
unwaxa1400
wastea1400
adminishc1400
lessenc1400
imminish14..
aslakec1405
minish?a1425
assuagec1430
shrinkc1449
to let down1486
decay1489
diminish1520
fall1523
rebate1540
batea1542
to come down1548
abate1560
stoop1572
pine1580
slack1580
scanten1585
shrivel1588
decrew1596
remit1629
contract1648
subside1680
lower1697
relax1701
drop1730
to take off1776
to run down1792
reduce1798
recede1810
to run off1816
to go down1823
attenuatea1834
ease1876
downscale1945
a1400–50 Wars Alex. (Dublin) 3254 All þe welth of þis werld waystes be þe last To caryon & corrupcion.
c1410 J. Lydgate Life Our Lady lxiii. (Ashm. 39) 85 Of parfite riches hit is tresoryeie Whiche may not waste but Iliche abide.
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 83 In his tyme þat empire wastid and went to nowt.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 772/1 All thyng wasteth but the grace of God.
1598 G. Chapman in C. Marlowe & G. Chapman Hero & Leander (new ed.) iii. 35 Joy grauen in sence, like snow in water wasts.
1653 R. Austen Spirituall Vse of Orchard 26 in Treat. Fruit-trees As that [Grace] growes, Corruption wasteth, or is kept under.
1656 A. Cowley Bathing in Mistress iii And with swift current to those joys they haste, That do as swiftly waste.
1715 I. Watts Sluggard in Divine & Moral Songs 12 His money still wastes, till he starves or he begs.
1827 J. Keble Christian Year I. xxvi. 103 If the treasures of thy wrath could waste.
1834 H. Martineau Farrers of Budge-Row iv. 60 Her traffic declined, her wealth wasted, and she knew, at length, the curse of pauperism.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > worse > [verb (intransitive)] > in quality or character
forworthc1000
wearc1275
spilla1300
defadec1325
pall?c1335
forlinec1374
sinka1500
degender1539
degener1545
degenerate1545
dwindle1598
degenerize1606
disflourish1640
deflourish1656
waste1669
tarnish1678
devolve1830
honeycomb1868
bastardize1878
slush1882
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. xii. 66 How to make Powder [so that] it shall not wast with time.
14. Of time: To pass away, be spent. (Often conjugated with be.) Also const. away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > [verb (intransitive)]
overgoeOE
agoeOE
goOE
forthgoOE
runOE
overdrivea1275
farea1325
overmetea1325
walka1325
passc1330
slidec1374
yern1377
to pass overa1382
wastec1385
waive1390
to pass awaya1400
overseyc1400
drive?c1450
to drive ona1470
slevea1510
to roll awaya1522
to roll overa1522
to wear out, forth1525
flit1574
to pass on1574
to run on1578
overhie1582
wear1597
overslip1607
spend1607
travel1609
to go bya1616
elapsea1644
to come round1650
efflux1660
to roll round1684
lapse1702
roll1731
to roll around1769
to roll by1790
transpire1824
to come around1829
tide1835
elabe1837
tick1937
the world > time > spending time > spend time [verb (intransitive)] > be spent (of time)
wastec1385
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 2678 The nyght is wastid, and he fyl a slepe.
1540 in J. W. Clay Testamenta Eboracensia (1902) VI. 99 The lif of man upon erthe dothe daylie waist and drawith towarde our ende.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 4030 Comyn was by course þat the cold wyntur Was wastid & went with his wete shoures.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iv. sig. Oo6 The day was so wasted, that onely this riming Sestine..could obtaine fauour to be heard.
1634 J. Ford Chron. Hist. Perkin Warbeck i. sig. C3v The night doth waste.
1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther iii. 106 So long they flew with inconsiderate haste That now their afternoon began to waste.
1759 Ann. Reg. 1758 39/1 The season wasted apace.
1767 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy IX. viii. 36 I will not argue the matter: Time wastes too fast.
1834 W. S. Landor Citation & Exam. Shakespere in Wks. (1846) II. 266 We are losing the day; it wastes toward noon and nothing done.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre II. x. 253 The month of courtship had wasted.
1881 ‘M. Twain’ Prince & Pauper xvii. 187 The afternoon wasted away.
1961 W. Vaughan-Thomas Anzio i. 8 The year wasted to an end.
1978 J. A. Michener Chesapeake 282 The boys were only eight and seven, but already the years were wasting.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.c1200
adj.c1290v.c1230