I. ˈwāst 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
II. verb
( wast·ed ; wast·ing )
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French waster, gaster, from Latin vastare, from vastus desolate, waste
Date: 13th century
transitive verb
1. : to lay waste ; especially : to damage or destroy gradually and progressively
reclaiming land wasted by strip-mining
2. : to cause to shrink in physical bulk or strength : emaciate , enfeeble
a body wasted by disease
3. : to wear away or diminish gradually : consume
4.
a. : to spend or use carelessly : squander
waste valuable resources
b. : to allow to be used inefficiently or become dissipated
a writer wasting her talent
5. : kill ; also : to injure severely
intransitive verb
1. : to lose weight, strength, or vitality — often used with away
was wasting away from illness
2.
a. : to become diminished in bulk or substance
b. : to become consumed
3. : to spend money or consume property extravagantly or improvidently
Synonyms: see ravage
•
- waste one's breath
III. adjective
Etymology: Middle English waste, wast, from Anglo-French wast
Date: 14th century
1.
a.
(1) : being wild and uninhabited : desolate
(2) : arid , empty
b. : not cultivated : not productive
2. : being in a ruined or devastated condition
3.
[ waste (I)]
a. : discarded as worthless, defective, or of no use : refuse
waste material
b. : excreted from or stored in inert form in a living body as a byproduct of vital activity
waste products
4.
[ waste (I)]
: serving to conduct or hold refuse material
a waste barrel
specifically : carrying off superfluous water
a waste drain
5. : wasted 4