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   waste

   /weɪst/

   verb

   • 1. use or expend carelessly, extravagantly, or to no purpose: "we can't afford to waste electricity" Similar squanderfritter awaymisspendmisusespend recklesslythrow awaylavishbe wasteful withdissipatespend like waterthrow around like confettigo throughrun throughexhaustdraindepleteburn upuse upconsumeinformal:blowsplurgeOpposite conserve
   • ▪ expend on an unappreciative recipient: "her small talk was wasted on this guest"
   • ▪ fail to make full or good use of: "we're wasted in this job"
   • ▪ deliberately dispose of (surplus stock): "20% of stock will need to be wasted"
   • 2. (of a person or a part of the body) become progressively weaker and more emaciated: "she was visibly wasting away" Similar grow weakwitheratrophybecome emaciatedshrivel upshrinkdecaydeclinewiltfadeflagdeterioratedegeneraterotmoulderlanguishbe abandonedbe neglectedbe forgottenbe disregardedOpposite flourishthrive
   • ▪ make progressively weaker and more emaciated: archaic "these symptoms wasted the patients very much"
   • 3. devastate or ruin (a place): literary "he seized their cattle and wasted their country"
   • ▪ kill or severely injure (someone): informal North American "I saw them waste the guy I worked for" Similar murderkilldo away withassassinateliquidatedo to deatheliminateterminatedispatchfinish offput to deathexecuteslaughterbutchermassacrewipe outdestroyannihilateeradicateexterminateextirpatedecimatemow downshoot downcut downcut to piecesinformal:bump offpolish offdo inknock offtoptake outcroakstifficeoffrub outwhacksmokeliterary:slay
   • 4. (of time) pass away: literary "the years were wasting"

   adjective

   • 1. (of a material, substance, or by-product) eliminated or discarded as no longer useful or required after the completion of a process: "ensure that waste materials are disposed of responsibly" Similar unwantedexcesssuperfluousleft overscrapextraunuseduselessworthlessunproductiveunusableunprofitableOpposite useful
   • 2. (of an area of land, typically an urban one) not used, cultivated, or built on: "a patch of waste ground" Similar uncultivatedbarrendesertunproductiveinfertileunfruitfularidbaredesolatesolitarylonelyemptyvoiduninhabitedunpopulatedwildOpposite cultivated

   noun

   • 1. an act or instance of using or expending something carelessly, extravagantly, or to no purpose: "it's a waste of time trying to argue with him" Similar squanderingdissipationfrittering awaymisspendingmisusemisapplicationmisemploymentabuseprodigalityextravagancewastefulnesslavishnessunthriftiness
   • ▪ the gradual loss or diminution of something: archaic "he was pale and weak from waste of blood"
   • 2. unwanted or unusable material, substances, or by-products: "nuclear waste" Similar refuselitterdebrisdrossjunkdetritusscrapdregsleavingsremainsscrapsoffscouringssewageeffluenteffluviumrubbishgarbagetrash
   • 3. a large area of barren, typically uninhabited land: "the icy wastes of the Antarctic" Similar desertwastelandwildernessbarrennessemptinessvastnesswilds
   • 4. damage to an estate caused by an act or by neglect, especially by a life tenant.

   Word Origin Middle English: from Old Northern French wast(e) (noun), waster (verb), based on Latin vastus ‘unoccupied, uncultivated’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. wasteless adjective

   Scrabble Points: 8

   • W

     4

   • A

     1

   • S

     1

   • T

     1

   • E

     1

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