n.
Pronunciation: ' w ā st
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English waste, wast; in sense 1, from Anglo-French wast, from wast, gast, guast, adjective, desolate, waste, from Latin vastus; in other senses, from Middle English wasten to waste ― more at VAST
Date: 13th century
1 a : a sparsely settled or barren region : DESERT b : uncultivated land c : a broad and empty expanse (as of water)
2 : the act or an instance of wasting : the state of being wasted
3 a : loss through breaking down of bodily tissue b : gradual loss or decrease by use, wear, or decay
4 a : damaged, defective, or superfluous material produced by a manufacturing process: as (1) : material rejected during a textile manufacturing process and used usually for wiping away dirt and oil <cotton waste > (2) : SCRAP (3) : an unwanted by-product of a manufacturing process, chemical laboratory, or nuclear reactor <toxic waste > <hazardous waste > <nuclear waste > b : refuse from places of human or animal habitation: as (1) : GARBAGE , RUBBISH (2) : EXCREMENT ― often used in plural (3) : SEWAGE c : material derived by mechanical and chemical weathering of the land and moved down sloping surfaces or carried by streams to the sea