(~s, wasting, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ something such as time, money, or energy, you use too much of it doing something that is not important or necessary, or is unlikely to succeed.
There could be many reasons and he was not going to ~ time speculating on them...
I resolved not to ~ money on a hotel...
The system ~s a large amount of water.
VERB: V n -ing, V n on n, V n
•
Waste is also a noun.
It is a ~ of time going to the doctor with most mild complaints...
I think that is a total ~ of money.
N-SING: a N of n
2.
Waste is the use of money or other resources on things that do not need it.
The packets are measured to reduce ~...
I hate ~.
N-UNCOUNT
3.
Waste is material which has been used and is no longer wanted, for example because the valuable or useful part of it has been taken out.
Congress passed a law that regulates the disposal of ~...
Up to 10 million tonnes of toxic ~s are produced every year in the UK.
...the process of eliminating body ~.
N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl
4.
If you ~ an opportunity for something, you do not take advantage of it when it is available.
Let’s not ~ an opportunity to see the children...
It was a ~d opportunity.
VERB: V n, V-ed
5.
Waste land is land, especially in or near a city, which is not used or looked after by anyone, and so is covered by wild plants and rubbish.
Yarrow can be found growing wild in fields and on ~ ground.
ADJ: usu ADJ n
6.
Wastes are a large area of land, for example a desert, in which there are very few people, plants, or animals.
...the barren ~s of the Sahara.
N-PLURAL: adj N, N of n
7.
see also ~d
8.
If something goes to ~, it remains unused or has to be thrown away.
Mexican cookery is economical, she says. Nothing goes to ~.
PHRASE: V inflects
9.
to ~ no time: see time