to consume, spend, or employ uselessly or without adequate return; use to no avail or profit; squander: to waste money; to waste words.
to fail or neglect to use: to waste an opportunity.
to destroy or consume gradually; wear away: The waves waste the rock of the shore.
to wear down or reduce in bodily substance, health, or strength; emaciate; enfeeble: to be wasted by disease or hunger.
to destroy, devastate, or ruin: a country wasted by a long and futile war.
Slang. to kill or murder.
verb (used without object),wast·ed,wast·ing.
to be consumed, spent, or employed uselessly or without giving full value or being fully utilized or appreciated.
to become gradually consumed, used up, or worn away: A candle wastes in burning.
to become physically worn; lose flesh or strength; become emaciated or enfeebled.
to diminish gradually; dwindle, as wealth, power, etc.: The might of England is wasting.
to pass gradually, as time.
noun
useless consumption or expenditure; use without adequate return; an act or instance of wasting: The project was a waste of material, money, time, and energy.
neglect, instead of use: waste of opportunity.
gradual destruction, impairment, or decay: the waste and repair of bodily tissue.
devastation or ruin, as from war or fire.
a region or place devastated or ruined: The forest fire left a blackened waste.
anything unused, unproductive, or not properly utilized.
an uncultivated tract of land.
a wild region or tract of land; desolate country, desert, or the like.
an empty, desolate, or dreary tract or extent: a waste of snow.
anything left over or superfluous, as excess material or by-products, not of use for the work in hand: a fortune made in salvaging factory wastes.
remnants, as from the working of cotton, used for wiping machinery, absorbing oil, etc.
Physical Geography. material derived by mechanical and chemical disintegration of rock, as the detritus transported by streams, rivers, etc.
garbage; refuse.
wastes,excrement.
adjective
not used or in use: waste energy; waste talents.
(of land, regions, etc.) wild, desolate, barren, or uninhabited; desert.
(of regions, towns, etc.) in a state of desolation and ruin, as from devastation or decay.
left over or superfluous: to utilize waste products of manufacture.
having served or fulfilled a purpose; no longer of use.
rejected as useless or worthless; refuse: to salvage waste products.
Physiology. pertaining to material unused by or unusable to the organism.
designed or used to receive, hold, or carry away excess, superfluous, used, or useless material (often in combination): a waste pipe; waste container.
Obsolete. excessive; needless.
Idioms for waste
go to waste, to fail to be used or consumed; be wasted: She hates to see good food go to waste.
lay waste, to devastate; destroy; ruin: Forest fires lay waste thousands of acres yearly.
Origin of waste
1150–1200; 1960–65 for def. 6; (adj.) Middle English <Old North French wast (Old French g(u)ast) <Latin vāstus desolate; (v.) Middle English <Old North French waster (Old French g(u)aster) <Latin vāstāre, derivative of vāstus; (noun) Middle English <Old North French wast(e) (Old French g(u)aste), partly <Latin vāstum, noun use of neuter of vāstus, partly derivative of waster;Old North French w-,Old French gu- by influence of cognate with Frankish *wōsti desolate (cognate with Old High German wuosti)
SYNONYMS FOR waste
1 misspend, dissipate, fritter away, expend.
3 erode.
5 ravage, pillage, plunder, sack, spoil, despoil.
10 decline, ebb, wane, decay.
12 dissipation.
14 diminution, decline, emaciation, consumption.
15 spoliation, desolation.
24 rubbish, trash.
28 ruined, destroyed.
29 unused, useless, extra.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR waste ON THESAURUS.COM
ANTONYMS FOR waste
1 save.
SEE ANTONYMS FOR waste ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for waste
19. See desert1. 36. See ravage.
OTHER WORDS FROM waste
wast·a·ble,adjectivewasteless,adjectiveoutwaste,verb (used with object),out·wast·ed,out·wast·ing.un·wast·a·ble,adjective
A lot of time and energy is wasted among analysts in debating how exactly to characterize skewed maps that result from residential segregation.
America needs a democratic revolution|Matthew Yglesias|September 17, 2020|Vox
Not surprisingly, the vast waste deposits produced during the Great Acceleration figure prominently in the search for a suitable stratigraphic section to place the GSSP that will mark the start of the Anthropocene.
Dawn of the Heliocene - Issue 90: Something Green|Summer Praetorius|September 16, 2020|Nautilus
Some of the ones my other friend got were round, which wastes space.
How (and Why) to Execute the Perfect Canoe Portage|Alex Hutchinson|September 9, 2020|Outside Online
“If you don’t find out what the answer is, you’re kind of wasting your time,” he says.
Top 10 tips on how to study smarter, not longer|Kathiann Kowalski|September 9, 2020|Science News For Students
You do not have to waste your time on the same project again and use it on another channel or place to reach your target audience quickly and easily.
How businesses can use YouTube to tackle the COVID-19 business crisis|Catherrine Garcia|September 7, 2020|Search Engine Watch
When twelve people are killed by violence, whoever they are, for whatever reason, that is a tragedy and a waste.
Trolls and Martyrdom: Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie|Arthur Chu|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A land farm is the term used for a commercial operation where waste from oil and gas extraction is spread on top of the ground.
Two Texas Regulators Tried to Enforce the Rules. They Were Fired.|David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But fishing for rationale in harassment is almost always a waste of time.
A Female Writer’s New Milestone: Her First Death Threat|Annie Gaus|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Waste Management, the large disposal company, has turned its landfills into a fleet of power producers.
Garbage In, Power Out|The Daily Beast|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And as for ShiaChat, “as a younger person I used to waste some of my time arguing with people” there.
The Kardashian Look-Alike Trolling for Assad|Noah Shachtman, Michael Kennedy|October 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Waste written-paper is of little use, except for allumettes or lamp-lighters.
Miss Leslie's Lady's New Receipt-Book|Eliza Leslie
Wilt thou never cease to waste thy force and energies in intestine struggles?
The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh|William Makepeace Thackeray
The war, and perhaps other causes, have very seriously reduced our supply of meats, the waste of which cannot soon be repaired.
Address delivered by Hon. Henry H. Crapo, Governor of Michigan, before the Central Michigan Agricultural Society, at their Sheep-shearing Exhibition held at the Agricultural College Farm, on Thursday, May 24th, 1866|Henry Howland Crapo
The frontier was closely guarded against the savage tribes who seemed to be occupying the waste lands of northern Europe.
The Story of Mankind|Hendrik Van Loon
To speak of the wines and viands would be a waste of time, and, to cut the story short, there was plenty of everything.
One Hundred Merrie And Delightsome Stories|Various
British Dictionary definitions for waste
waste
/ (weɪst) /
verb
(tr)to use, consume, or expend thoughtlessly, carelessly, or to no avail
(tr)to fail to take advantage ofto waste an opportunity
(when intr, often foll by away) to lose or cause to lose bodily strength, health, etc
to exhaust or become exhausted
(tr)to ravage
(tr)informalto murder or killI want that guy wasted by tomorrow
noun
the act of wasting or state of being wasted
a failure to take advantage of something
anything unused or not used to full advantage
anything or anyone rejected as useless, worthless, or in excess of what is required
garbage, rubbish, or trash
a land or region that is devastated or ruined
a land or region that is wild or uncultivated
physiol
the useless products of metabolism
indigestible food residue
disintegrated rock material resulting from erosion
lawreduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect, esp by a life-tenant
adjective
rejected as useless, unwanted, or worthless
produced in excess of what is required
not cultivated, inhabited, or productivewaste land
of or denoting the useless products of metabolism
of or denoting indigestible food residue
destroyed, devastated, or ruined
designed to contain or convey waste products
lay wasteto devastate or destroy
Derived forms of waste
wastable, adjective
Word Origin for waste
C13: from Anglo-French waster, from Latin vastāre to lay waste, from vastus empty