to consume, spend, or employ uselessly or without adequate return; use to no avail or profit; squander: to waste money; to waste words.
2.
to fail or neglect to use: to waste an opportunity.
3.
to destroy or consume gradually; wear away: The waves waste the rock of the shore.
4.
to wear down or reduce in bodily substance, health, or strength; emaciate; enfeeble: to be wasted by disease or hunger.
5.
to destroy, devastate, or ruin: a country wasted by a long and futile war.
6.
Slang. to kill or murder.
–verb (used without object)
7.
to be consumed, spent, or employed uselessly or without giving full value or being fully utilized or appreciated.
8.
to become gradually consumed, used up, or worn away: A candle wastes in burning.
9.
to become physically worn; lose flesh or strength; become emaciated or enfeebled.
10.
to diminish gradually; dwindle, as wealth, power, etc.: The might of England is wasting.
11.
to pass gradually, as time.
–noun
12.
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.
13.
neglect, instead of use: waste of opportunity.
14.
gradual destruction, impairment, or decay: the waste and repair of bodily tissue.
15.
devastation or ruin, as from war or fire.
16.
a region or place devastated or ruined: The forest fire left a blackened waste.
17.
anything unused, unproductive, or not properly utilized.
18.
an uncultivated tract of land.
19.
a wild region or tract of land; desolate country, desert, or the like.
20.
an empty, desolate, or dreary tract or extent: a waste of snow.
21.
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.
22.
remnants, as from the working of cotton, used for wiping machinery, absorbing oil, etc.
23.
Physical Geography. material derived by mechanical and chemical disintegration of rock, as the detritus transported by streams, rivers, etc.
(of land, regions, etc.) wild, desolate, barren, or uninhabited; desert.
28.
(of regions, towns, etc.) in a state of desolation and ruin, as from devastation or decay.
29.
left over or superfluous: to utilize waste products of manufacture.
30.
having served or fulfilled a purpose; no longer of use.
31.
rejected as useless or worthless; refuse: to salvage waste products.
32.
Physiology. pertaining to material unused by or unusable to the organism.
33.
designed or used to receive, hold, or carry away excess, superfluous, used, or useless material (often in combination): a waste pipe; waste container.
34.
Obsolete. excessive; needless.
—Idioms
35.
go to waste, to fail to be used or consumed; be wasted: She hates to see good food go to waste.
36.
lay waste, to devastate; destroy; ruin: Forest fires lay waste thousands of acres yearly.
[Origin: 1150–1200; 1960–65 for def. 6; (adj.) ME < ONF wast (OF g(u)ast) < L vāstus desolate; (v.) ME < ONF waster (OF g(u)aster) < L vāstāre, deriv. of vāstus; (n.) ME < ONF wast(e) (OF g(u)aste), partly < L vāstum, n. use of neut. of vāstus, partly deriv. of waster; ONF w-, OF gu- by influence of c. Frankish *wōsti desolate (c. OHG wuosti)]
To use, consume, spend, or expend thoughtlessly or carelessly.
To cause to lose energy, strength, or vigor; exhaust, tire, or enfeeble: Disease wasted his body.
To fail to take advantage of or use for profit; lose: waste an opportunity.
To destroy completely.
Slang To kill; murder.
v.
intr.
To lose energy, strength, weight, or vigor; become weak or enfeebled: wasting away from an illness.
To pass without being put to use: Time is wasting.
n.
The act or an instance of wasting or the condition of being wasted: a waste of talent; gone to waste.
A place, region, or land that is uninhabited or uncultivated; a desert or wilderness.
A devastated or destroyed region, town, or building; a ruin.
An unusable or unwanted substance or material, such as a waste product.
Something, such as steam, that escapes without being used.
Garbage; trash.
The undigested residue of food eliminated from the body; excrement.
adj.
Regarded or discarded as worthless or useless: waste trimmings.
Used as a conveyance or container for refuse: a waste bin.
Excreted from the body: waste matter.
[Middle English wasten, from Old North French waster, from Latin vāstāre, to make empty, from vāstus, empty; see euə- in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: These verbs mean to spend or expend without restraint and often to no avail: wasted my inheritance; blew a fortune at the casino; time and money that was consumed in litigation; dissipated their energies in pointless argument; frittering away her entire allowance; squandered his talent on writing jingles.
c.1205, "devastate, ravage, ruin," from Anglo-Fr. and O.N.Fr. waster "to spoil, ruin" (O.Fr. guaster), altered (by influence of Frankish *wostjan) from L. vastare "lay waste," from vastus "empty, desolate, waste" (see vain). The word also existed in O.E. as westan. Meaning "to lose strength or health; pine; weaken" is attested from c.1300; the sense of "squander, spend or consume uselessly" is first recorded 1340; meaning "to kill" is from 1964. Wasted "intoxicated" is slang from 1950s. The adj. is recorded from c.1290; waste-water is attested from c.1450; waste-paper first recorded 1585.
c.1200, "desolate regions," from O.Fr. wast, from L. vastum, neut. of vastus "waste" (see waste (v.)); replacing O.E. westen, woesten "a desert, wilderness," from the L. word. Meaning "useless expenditure" is recorded from 1297; sense of "refuse matter" is attested from c.1430. Waste basket first recorded 1850.
located in a dismal or remote area; desolate; "a desert island"; "a godforsaken wilderness crossroads"; "a wild stretch of land"; "waste places" [syn: godforsaken]
noun
1.
any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted; "they collect the waste once a week"; "much of the waste material is carried off in the sewers"
2.
useless or profitless activity; using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly; "if the effort brings no compensating gain it is a waste"; "mindless dissipation of natural resources"
3.
the trait of wasting resources; "a life characterized by thriftlessness and waste"; "the wastefulness of missed opportunities" [syn: thriftlessness]
4.
an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation; "the barrens of central Africa"; "the trackless wastes of the desert" [syn: barren]
5.
(law) reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect
verb
1.
spend thoughtlessly; throw away; "He wasted his inheritance on his insincere friends"; "You squandered the opportunity to get and advanced degree" [ant: conserve]
2.
use inefficiently or inappropriately; "waste heat"; "waste a joke on an unappreciative audience"
3.
get rid of; "We waste the dirty water by channeling it into the sewer"
4.
run off as waste; "The water wastes back into the ocean"
5.
get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing; "The mafia liquidated the informer"; "the double agent was neutralized" [syn: neutralize]
Vast\, a. [Compar. Vaster; superl. Vastest.] [L. vastus empty, waste, enormous, immense: cf. F. vaste. See Waste, and cf. Devastate.]1. Waste; desert; desolate; lonely. [Obs.] The empty, vast, and wandering air. --Shak. 2. Of great extent; very spacious or large; also, huge in bulk; immense; enormous; as, the vast ocean; vast mountains; the vast empire of Russia. Through the vast and boundless deep. --Milton. 3. Very great in numbers, quantity, or amount; as, a vast army; a vast sum of money. 4. Very great in importance; as, a subject of vast concern. Syn: Enormous; huge; immense; mighty.
Vol"un*ta*ry\, a. [L. voluntarius, fr. voluntas will, choice, from the root of velle to will, p. pr. volens; akin to E. will: cf. F. volontaire, Of. also voluntaire. See Will, v. t., and cf. Benevolent, Volition, Volunteer.]1. Proceeding from the will; produced in or by an act of choice. That sin or guilt pertains exclusively to voluntary action is the true principle of orthodoxy. --N. W. Taylor. 2. Unconstrained by the interference of another; unimpelled by the influence of another; not prompted or persuaded by another; done of his or its own accord; spontaneous; acting of one's self, or of itself; free. Our voluntary service he requires. --Milton. She fell to lust a voluntary prey. --Pope. 3. Done by design or intention; intentional; purposed; intended; not accidental; as, if a man kills another by lopping a tree, it is not voluntary manslaughter. 4. (Physiol.) Of or pertaining to the will; subject to, or regulated by, the will; as, the voluntary motions of an animal, such as the movements of the leg or arm (in distinction from involuntary motions, such as the movements of the heart); the voluntary muscle fibers, which are the agents in voluntary motion. 5. Endowed with the power of willing; as, man is a voluntary agent. God did not work as a necessary, but a voluntary, agent, intending beforehand, and decreeing with himself, that which did outwardly proceed from him. --Hooker. 6. (Law) Free; without compulsion; according to the will, consent, or agreement, of a party; without consideration; gratuitous; without valuable consideration. 7. (Eccl.) Of or pertaining to voluntaryism; as, a voluntary church, in distinction from an established or state church. Voluntary affidavit or oath (Law), an affidavit or oath made in extrajudicial matter. Voluntary conveyance (Law), a conveyance without valuable consideration. Voluntary escape (Law), the escape of a prisoner by the express consent of the sheriff. Voluntary jurisdiction. (Eng. Eccl. Law) See Contentious jurisdiction, under Contentious. Voluntary waste. (Law) See Waste, n., 4. Syn: See Spontaneous.
Waste\, a. [OE. wast, OF. wast, from L. vastus, influenced by the kindred German word; cf. OHG. wuosti, G. w["u]st, OS. w?sti, D. woest, AS. w[=e]ste. Cf. Vast.]1. Desolate; devastated; stripped; bare; hence, dreary; dismal; gloomy; cheerless. The dismal situation waste and wild. --Milton. His heart became appalled as he gazed forward into the waste darkness of futurity. --Sir W. Scott. 2. Lying unused; unproductive; worthless; valueless; refuse; rejected; as, waste land; waste paper. But his waste words returned to him in vain. --Spenser. Not a waste or needless sound, Till we come to holier ground. --Milton. Ill day which made this beauty waste. --Emerson. 3. Lost for want of occupiers or use; superfluous. And strangled with her waste fertility. --Milton. Waste gate, a gate by which the superfluous water of a reservoir, or the like, is discharged. Waste paper. See under Paper. Waste pipe, a pipe for carrying off waste, or superfluous, water or other fluids. Specifically: (a) (Steam Boilers) An escape pipe. See under Escape. (b) (Plumbing) The outlet pipe at the bottom of a bowl, tub, sink, or the like. Waste steam. (a) Steam which escapes the air. (b) Exhaust steam. Waste trap, a trap for a waste pipe, as of a sink.
Waste\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wasted; p. pr. & vb. n. Wasting.] [OE. wasten, OF. waster, guaster, gaster, F. g[^a]ter to spoil, L. vastare to devastate, to lay waste, fr. vastus waste, desert, uncultivated, ravaged, vast, but influenced by a kindred German word; cf. OHG. wuosten, G. w["u]sten, AS. w[=e]stan. See Waste, a.]1. To bring to ruin; to devastate; to desolate; to destroy. Thou barren ground, whom winter's wrath hath wasted, Art made a mirror to behold my plight. --Spenser. The Tiber Insults our walls, and wastes our fruitful grounds. --Dryden. 2. To wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to diminish by constant loss; to use up; to consume; to spend; to wear out. Until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness. --Num. xiv. 33. O, were I able To waste it all myself, and leave ye none! --Milton. Here condemned To waste eternal days in woe and pain. --Milton. Wasted by such a course of life, the infirmities of age daily grew on him. --Robertson. 3. To spend unnecessarily or carelessly; to employ prodigally; to expend without valuable result; to apply to useless purposes; to lavish vainly; to squander; to cause to be lost; to destroy by scattering or injury. The younger son gathered all together, and . . . wasted his substance with riotous living. --Luke xv. 13. Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. --Gray. 4. (Law) To damage, impair, or injure, as an estate, voluntarily, or by suffering the buildings, fences, etc., to go to decay. Syn: To squander; dissipate; lavish; desolate.
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