wasting
Use Wasting in a sentence
stɪŋ adjective
1.
gradually reducing the fullness and strength of the body: a wasting disease.
2.
laying waste; devastating; despoiling: the ravages of a wasting war.
noun
3.
Geology, mass wasting.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used with object)
1.
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.
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.
24.
garbage; refuse.
25.
wastes, excrement.
adjective
Idioms 26.
not used or in use: waste energy; waste talents.
27.
(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.
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.) 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)
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)
Related forms
wast·a·ble, adjective
waste·less, adjective
out·waste, verb (used with object), out·wast·ed, out·wast·ing.
un·wast·a·ble, adjective
Synonyms
1. misspend, dissipate, fritter away, expend. 3. erode. 5. ravage, pillage, plunder, sack, spoil, despoil. 10. decline, perish, wane, decay. 12. dissipation. 14. diminution, decline, emaciation, consumption. 15. spoliation, desolation. 24. rubbish, trash. 28. ruined, ghostly, destroyed. 29. unused, useless, extra.
1. misspend, dissipate, fritter away, expend. 3. erode. 5. ravage, pillage, plunder, sack, spoil, despoil. 10. decline, perish, wane, decay. 12. dissipation. 14. diminution, decline, emaciation, consumption. 15. spoliation, desolation. 24. rubbish, trash. 28. ruined, ghostly, destroyed. 29. unused, useless, extra.
Antonyms
1. save.
1. save.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To Wasting
00:10
Wasting
is always a great word to know.
So is loam. Does it mean:
| rich soil containing a relatively equal mixture of sand, silt and a smaller proportion of clay |
| portion of the earth's surface consisting of disintegrated rock and humus |
Collins
World English Dictionary
waste (weɪst) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb (when intr, | |
| 1. | (tr) to use, consume, or expend thoughtlessly, carelessly, or to no avail |
| 2. | (tr) to fail to take advantage of: to waste an opportunity |
| 3. | to lose or cause to lose bodily strength, health, etc |
| 4. | to exhaust or become exhausted |
| 5. | (tr) to ravage |
| 6. | informal (tr) to murder or kill: I want that guy wasted by tomorrow |
| —n | |
| 7. | the act of wasting or state of being wasted |
| 8. | a failure to take advantage of something |
| 9. | anything unused or not used to full advantage |
| 10. | anything or anyone rejected as useless, worthless, or in excess of what is required |
| 11. | garbage, rubbish, or trash |
| 12. | a land or region that is devastated or ruined |
| 13. | a land or region that is wild or uncultivated |
| 14. | physiol |
| a. the useless products of metabolism | |
| b. indigestible food residue | |
| 15. | disintegrated rock material resulting from erosion |
| 16. | law reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect, esp by a life-tenant |
| —adj | |
| 17. | rejected as useless, unwanted, or worthless |
| 18. | produced in excess of what is required |
| 19. | not cultivated, inhabited, or productive: waste land |
| 20. | a. of or denoting the useless products of metabolism |
| b. of or denoting indigestible food residue | |
| 21. | destroyed, devastated, or ruined |
| 22. | designed to contain or convey waste products |
| 23. | lay waste to devastate or destroy |
| [C13: from Anglo-French waster, from Latin vastāre to lay waste, from vastus empty] | |
| 'wastable | |
| —adj | |
| wasting (ˈweɪstɪŋ) | |
| —adj | |
| (prenominal) reducing the vitality, strength, or robustness of the body: a wasting disease | |
| 'wastingly | |
| —adv | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
waste
c.1200, "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 mid-14c.; meaning "to kill" is from 1964. Wasted "intoxicated" is slang from 1950s. The adj. is recorded from late 13c.; waste-water is attested from mid-15c.; waste-paper first recorded 1580s.
waste
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 c.1300; sense of "refuse matter" is attested from
c.1430. Waste basket first recorded 1850.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
waste (wāst)
v. wast·ed, wast·ing, wastes
To gradually lose energy, strength, or bodily substance, as from disease. n.
The undigested residue of food eliminated from the body; excrement.
wasting adj.
Gradually deteriorating; declining.
Sapping the strength or substance of the body, as a disease; emaciating.
Emaciation.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
| waste (wāst) Pronunciation Key
Noun An unusable or unwanted substance or material, such as a waste product. See also hazardous waste, landfill. Verb To lose or cause to lose energy, strength, weight, or vigor, as by the progressive effects of a disease such as metastatic cancer. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
waste definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences
There's no point in wasting water by trying to keep alive scraggly or diseased plants.
In both cases, you risk wasting time and money on lawyers and getting nothing in return.
Check on water heaters, dishwashers, ovens and other appliances to make sure they are functioning properly and not wasting energy.
There is an abundance of people wasting their time and the instructor's by going to college.
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