WASTE

godforsaken, waste, wild

(adjective) located in a dismal or remote area; desolate; “a desert island”; “a godforsaken wilderness crossroads”; “a wild stretch of land”; “waste places”

waste, wastefulness, dissipation

(noun) 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”

waste, permissive waste

(noun) (law) reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect

thriftlessness, waste, wastefulness

(noun) the trait of wasting resources; “a life characterized by thriftlessness and waste”; “the wastefulness of missed opportunities”

barren, waste, wasteland

(noun) an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation; “the barrens of central Africa”; “the trackless wastes of the desert”

waste, waste material, waste matter, waste product

(noun) 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”

waste, rot

(verb) become physically weaker; “Political prisoners are wasting away in many prisons all over the world”

waste, emaciate, macerate

(verb) cause to grow thin or weak; “The treatment emaciated him”

consume, squander, waste, ware

(verb) spend extravagantly; “waste not, want not”

waste

(verb) use inefficiently or inappropriately; “waste heat”; “waste a joke on an unappreciative audience”

neutralize, neutralise, liquidate, waste, knock off, do in

(verb) get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing; “The mafia liquidated the informer”; “the double agent was neutralized”

waste, run off

(verb) run off as waste; “The water wastes back into the ocean”

waste

(verb) get rid of; “We waste the dirty water by channeling it into the sewer”

waste, blow, squander

(verb) spend thoughtlessly; throw away; “He wasted his inheritance on his insincere friends”; “You squandered the opportunity to get and advanced degree”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology 1

Noun

waste (countable and uncountable, plural wastes)

Excess of material, useless by-products or damaged, unsaleable products; garbage; rubbish.

Excrement or urine.

A waste land; an uninhabited desolate region; a wilderness or desert.

A place that has been laid waste or destroyed.

A large tract of uncultivated land.

(historical) The part of the land of a manor (of whatever size) not used for cultivation or grazing, nowadays treated as common land.

A vast expanse of water.

A disused mine or part of one.

The action or progress of wasting; extravagant consumption or ineffectual use.

Large abundance of something, specifically without it being used.

Gradual loss or decay.

A decaying of the body by disease; wasting away.

(rare) Destruction or devastation caused by war or natural disasters; See "to lay waste"

(legal) A cause of action which may be brought by the owner of a future interest in property against the current owner of that property to prevent the current owner from degrading the value or character of the property, either intentionally or through neglect.

(geology) Material derived by mechanical and chemical erosion from the land, carried by streams to the sea.

Etymology 2

Adjective

waste (comparative more waste, superlative most waste)

(now, rare) Uncultivated, uninhabited.

Barren; desert.

Rejected as being defective; eliminated as being worthless; produced in excess.

Superfluous; needless.

Dismal; gloomy; cheerless.

Unfortunate; disappointing.

Usage notes

Same meanings as wasted.

Etymology 3

Verb

waste (third-person singular simple present wastes, present participle wasting, simple past and past participle wasted)

(transitive) to devastate, destroy

(transitive) To squander (money or resources) uselessly; to spend (time) idly.

(transitive, slang) To kill; to murder.

(transitive) To wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to diminish by constant loss; to use up; to consume; to spend; to wear out.

(intransitive) Gradually lose weight, weaken, become frail.

(intransitive) To be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value etc. gradually.

(legal) To damage, impair, or injure (an estate, etc.) voluntarily, or by allowing the buildings, fences, etc, to fall into decay.

Synonyms

• (slang, to kill or murder): cack, top, duppy (see also kill)

Anagrams

• Sweat, Weast, swate, sweat, tawse, wetas

Source: Wiktionary

Waste, a. Etym: [OE. wast, OF. wast, from L. vastus, influenced by the kindred German word; cf. OHG. wuosti, G. wüst, OS. w, D. woest, AS. weste. 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.] Etym: [OE. wasten, OF. waster, guaster, gaster, F. gâter 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. wüsten, AS. westan. 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)

Definition: 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.

Waste, v. i.

1. To be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value, or the like, gradually; to be consumed; to dwindle; to grow less. The time wasteth night and day. Chaucer. The barrel of meal shall not waste. 1 Kings xvii. 14. But man dieth, and wasteth away. Job xiv. 10.

2. (Sporting)

Definition: To procure or sustain a reduction of flesh; -- said of a jockey in preparation for a race, etc.

Waste, n. Etym: [OE. waste; cf. the kindred AS. w, OHG. w, wuosti, G. wüste. See Waste, a. & v.]

1. The act of wasting, or the state of being wasted; a squandering; needless destruction; useless consumption or expenditure; devastation; loss without equivalent gain; gradual loss or decrease, by use, wear, or decay; as, a waste of property, time, labor, words, etc. "Waste . . . of catel and of time." Chaucer. For all this waste of wealth loss of blood. Milton. He will never . . . in the way of waste, attempt us again. Shak. Little wastes in great establishments, constantly occurring, may defeat the energies of a mighty capital. L. Beecher.

2. That which is wasted or desolate; a devastated, uncultivated, or wild country; a deserted region; an unoccupied or unemployed space; a dreary void; a desert; a wilderness. "The wastes of Nature." Emerson. All the leafy nation sinks at last, And Vulcan rides in triumph o'er the waste. Dryden. The gloomy waste of waters which bears his name is his tomb and his monument. Bancroft.

3. That which is of no value; worthless remnants; refuse. Specifically: Remnants of cops, or other refuse resulting from the working of cotton, wool, hemp, and the like, used for wiping machinery, absorbing oil in the axle boxes of railway cars, etc.

4. (Law)

Definition: Spoil, destruction, or injury, done to houses, woods, fences, lands, etc., by a tenant for life or for years, to the prejudice of the heir, or of him in reversion or remainder.

Note: Waste is voluntary, as by pulling down buildings; or permissive, as by suffering them to fall for want of necessary repairs. Whatever does a lasting damage to the freehold is a waste. Blackstone.

5. (Mining)

Definition: Old or abandoned workings, whether left as vacant space or filled with refuse.

Syn.

– Prodigality; diminution; loss; dissipation; destruction; devastation; havoc; desolation; ravage.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition