waste
adjective
1. located in a dismal or remote area; desolate
- waste places
Similar word(s): inhospitable, godforsaken, wild
noun
1. 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
Definition categories: substance, material, stuff
2. useless or profitless activity; using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly
- if the effort brings no compensating gain it is a waste
Similar word(s): dissipation, wastefulness
Definition categories: act, activity
3. the trait of wasting resources
- a life characterized by thriftlessness and waste
- the wastefulness of missed opportunities
Similar word(s): thriftlessness, wastefulness
Definition categories: attribute, improvidence, shortsightedness
4. an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation
- the trackless wastes of the desert
Similar word(s): barren, wasteland
Definition categories: location, wild, wilderness
5. (law) reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect
Definition categories: act, deed
Sentences with waste as a noun:
- That was a waste of time
- Her life seemed a waste
- The cage was littered with animal waste
verb
1. spend thoughtlessly; throw away
- He wasted his inheritance on his insincere friends
Similar word(s): blow, squander
Definition categories: possession, expend, use
2. use inefficiently or inappropriately
- waste heat
- waste a joke on an unappreciative audience
Definition categories: consumption, apply, employ, use, utilise, utilize
3. get rid of
- We waste the dirty water by channeling it into the sewer
Definition categories: possession, discard, dispose, fling, toss
4. run off as waste
- The water wastes back into the ocean
Definition categories: motion, course, feed, flow, run
5. get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing
Similar word(s): liquidate, neutralise, neutralize
Definition categories: contact, kill
6. spend extravagantly
- waste not, want not
Similar word(s): consume, squander, ware
Definition categories: consumption, drop, expend, spend
7. lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief
Similar word(s): languish
Definition categories: change, weaken
8. cause to grow thin or weak
Similar word(s): emaciate, macerate
Definition categories: change, debilitate, drain, enfeeble
9. cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly
- The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion
Similar word(s): desolate, devastate, ravage, scourge
Definition categories: change, destroy, ruin
10. become physically weaker
Similar word(s): rot
Definition categories: body, degenerate, deteriorate, devolve, drop
Sentences with waste as a verb:
- E. Kay (1822-1897), afterwards Lord Justice of Appeal, had rooms on the same staircase as myself, and we wasted a great deal of time together, both in term and in my second summer vacation. 1909. Francis Galton, Memories of my life, p. 69.We wasted millions of dollars and several years on that project.