1.  The act of wasting, or the state of being wasted; a squandering; needless destruction; useless consumption or expenditure; devastation; loss without equivalent gain; gradual loss or decrease, by use, wear, or decay; as, a waste of property, time, labor, words, etc. Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
"For all this waste of wealth loss of blood." [1913 Webster]
"He will never . . . in the way of waste, attempt us again." [1913 Webster]
"Little wastes in great establishments, constantly occurring, may defeat the energies of a mighty capital." [1913 Webster]

2.  That which is wasted or desolate; a devastated, uncultivated, or wild country; a deserted region; an unoccupied or unemployed space; a dreary void; a desert; a wilderness. Emerson. [1913 Webster]
"All the leafy nation sinks at last,
And Vulcan rides in triumph o'er the waste." [1913 Webster]
"The gloomy waste of waters which bears his name is his tomb and his monument." [1913 Webster]

3.  That which is of no value; worthless remnants; refuse. Specifically: Remnants of cops, or other refuse resulting from the working of cotton, wool, hemp, and the like, used for wiping machinery, absorbing oil in the axle boxes of railway cars, etc. [1913 Webster]

4.  Spoil, destruction, or injury, done to houses, woods, fences, lands, etc., by a tenant for life or for years, to the prejudice of the heir, or of him in reversion or remainder. [1913 Webster]
" Waste is voluntary, as by pulling down buildings; or permissive, as by suffering them to fall for want of necessary repairs. Whatever does a lasting damage to the freehold is a waste." Blackstone. [1913 Webster]

5.  Old or abandoned workings, whether left as vacant space or filled with refuse. [1913 Webster]

6.  Material derived by mechanical and chemical erosion from the land, carried by streams to the sea. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

waste, v., adj., & n.
--v.
1 tr. use to no purpose or for inadequate result or extravagantly (waste time).
2 tr. fail to use (esp. an opportunity).
3 tr. (often foll. by on) give (advice etc.), utter (words etc.), without effect.
4 tr. & intr. wear gradually away; make or become weak; wither.
5 tr. ravage, devastate.
6 tr. treat as wasted or valueless.
7 intr. be expended without useful effect.
--adj.
1 superfluous; no longer serving a purpose.
2 (of a district etc.) not inhabited or cultivated; desolate (waste ground).
3 presenting no features of interest.
--n.
1 the act or an instance of wasting; extravagant or ineffectual use of an asset, of time, etc.
2 waste material or food; refuse; useless remains or by-products.
3 a waste region; a desert etc.
4 the state of being used up; diminution by wear and tear.
5 Law damage to an estate caused by an act or by neglect, esp. by a life-tenant.
6 = waste pipe.

Idiom:
go (or run) to waste be wasted. lay waste ravage, devastate. waste-basket esp. US = waste-paper basket. waste one's breath see BREATH. waste not, want not extravagance leads to poverty. waste paper spoiled or valueless paper. waste-paper basket esp. Brit. a receptacle for waste paper. waste pipe a pipe to carry off waste material, e.g. from a sink. waste products useless by-products of manufacture or of an organism or organisms. waste words see WORD.

Derivative:
wastable adj. wasteless adj.

Etymology:
ME f. ONF wast(e), var. of OF g(u)ast(e), f. L vastus

N  waste, consumption, expenditure, exhaustion, dispersion, ebb, leakage, loss, wear and tear, waste, prodigality, misuse, wasting, rubbish, mountain in labor, wasted, at a low ebb, wasteful, penny wise and pound foolish, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, idly busy rolls their world away, waste, consumption, expenditure, exhaustion, dispersion, ebb, leakage, loss, wear and tear, waste, prodigality, misuse, wasting, rubbish, mountain in labor, wasted, at a low ebb, wasteful, penny wise and pound foolish, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, idly busy rolls their world away.

VB  spend, expend, use, consume, swallow up, exhaust, impoverish, spill, drain, empty, disperse, cast away, fool away, muddle away, throw away, fling away, fritter away, burn the candle at both ends, waste, squander, waste its sweetness on the desert air, cast one's bread upon the waters, cast pearls before swine, employ a steam engine to crack a nut, waste powder and shot, break a butterfly on a wheel, labor in vain, cut blocks with a razor, pour water into a sieve, leak, run to waste, ebb, melt away, run dry, dry up.

N  inutility, uselessness, inefficacy, futility, ineptitude, inaptitude, unsubservience, inadequacy, inefficiency, unskillfulness, disservice, unfruitfulness (unproductiveness), labor in vain, labor lost, labor of Sisyphus, lost trouble, lost labor, work of Penelope, sleeveless errand, wild goose chase, mere farce, tautology, supererogation, vanitas vanitatum, vanity, inanity, worthlessness, nugacity, triviality, caput mortuum, waste paper, dead letter, blunt tool, litter, rubbish, junk, lumber, odds and ends, cast-off clothes, button top, shoddy, rags, orts, trash, refuse, sweepings, scourings, offscourings, waste, rubble, debris, detritus, stubble, leavings, broken meat, dregs, weeds, tares, rubbish heap, dust hole, rudera, deads, fruges consumere natus, useless, inutile, inefficacious, futile, unavailing, bootless, inoperative, inadequate, inservient, unsubservient, inept, inefficient, of no avail, ineffectual, incompetent, stale, flat and unprofitable, superfluous, dispensable, thrown away, abortive, worthless, valueless, priceless, unsalable, not worth a straw, dear at any price, vain, empty, inane, gainless, profitless, fruitless, unserviceable, unprofitable, ill-spent, unproductive, hors de combat, effete, past work, obsolete, fit for the dust hole, good for nothing, of no earthly use, not worth having, not worth powder and shot, leading to no end, uncalled for, unnecessary, unneeded, uselessly, to little purpose, to no purpose, to little or no purpose, Int, cui bono?, what's the good!, actum ne agas, chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin, tanto buon che val niente.

VB  be worse, be deteriorated, become worse, become deteriorated Adj, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate.

N  deterioration, debasement, wane, ebb, recession, retrogradation, decrease, degeneracy, degeneration, degenerateness, degradation, depravation, depravement, devolution, depravity, demoralization, retrogression, masochism, impairment, inquination, injury, damage, loss, detriment, delaceration, outrage, havoc, inroad, ravage, scath, perversion, prostitution, vitiation, discoloration, oxidation, pollution, defoedation, poisoning, venenation, leaven, contamination, canker, corruption, adulteration, alloy, decline, declension, declination, decadence, decadency, falling off, caducity, decrepitude, decay, dilapidation, ravages of time, wear and tear, corrosion, erosion, moldiness, rottenness, moth and rust, dry rot, blight, marasmus, atrophy, collapse, disorganization, delabrement (destruction), aphid, Aphis, plant louse, puceron, vinefretter, vinegrub, wreck, mere wreck, honeycomb, magni nominis umbra, jade, plug, rackabones, skate, tackey, tacky, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate, Adj, unimproved &c (improve), deteriorated, altered, altered for the worse, injured, sprung, withering, spoiling, on the wane, on the decline, tabid, degenerate, marescent, worse, the worse for, all the worse for, out of repair, out of tune, imperfect, the worse for wear, battered, weathered, weather-beaten, stale, passe, shaken, dilapidated, frayed, faded, wilted, shabby, secondhand, threadbare, worn, worn to a thread, worn to a shadow, worn to the stump, worn to rags, reduced, reduced to a skeleton, far gone, tacky, decayed, moth-eaten, worm-eaten, mildewed, rusty, moldy, spotted, seedy, time-worn, moss-grown, discolored, effete, wasted, crumbling, moldering, rotten, cankered, blighted, tainted, depraved, decrepid, decrepit, broke, busted, broken, out of commission, hors de combat, out of action, broken down, done, done for, done up, worn out, used up, finished, beyond saving, fit for the dust hole, fit for the wastepaper basket, past work, at a low ebb, in a bad way, on one's last legs, undermined, deciduous, nodding to its fall, tottering, past cure, fatigued, retrograde, deleterious, out of the frying pan into the fire, agrescit medendo, what a falling off was there!.

VB  decrease, diminish, lessen, abridge, shrink, drop off, fall off, tail off, fall away, waste, wear, wane, ebb, decline, descend, subside, melt away, die away, retire into the shade, hide its diminished head, fall to a low ebb, run low, languish, decay, crumble, bate, abate, dequantitate, discount, depreciate, extenuate, lower, weaken, attenuate, fritter away, mitigate, dwarf, throw into the shade, reduce, shorten, subtract.

N  decrement, discount, defect, loss, deduction, afterglow, eduction, waste.

N  misuse, misusage, misemployment, misapplication, misappropriation, abuse, profanation, prostitution, desecration, waste, misused, ludere cum sacris.

N  loss, deperdition, perdition, forfeiture, lapse, privation, bereavement, deprivation, riddance, damage, squandering, waste, losing, not having, shorn of, deprived of, denuded, bereaved, bereft, minus, cut off, dispossessed, rid of, quit of, out of pocket, lost, long lost, irretrievable, off one's hands, Int, farewell to!, adieu to.

VB  lose, incur a loss, experience a loss, meet with a loss, miss, mislay, let slip, allow to slip through the fingers, be without, forfeit, get rid of, waste, be lost, lapse.

N  prodigality, prodigence, unthriftiness, waste, profusion, profuseness, extravagance, squandering, malversation, prodigal, spendthrift, waste thrift, losel, squanderer, locust, high roller, prodigal, profuse, thriftless, unthrifty, improvident, wasteful, losel, extravagant, lavish, dissipated, overliberal, full-handed, penny wise and pound foolish, with an unsparing hand, money burning a hole in one's pocket, amor nummi, facile largiri de alieno, wie gewonnen so zerronnen, les fous font les festins et les sages les mangent, spendthrift alike of money and of wit, squandering wealth was his peculiar art.

VB  be prodigal, squander, lavish, sow broadcast, pour forth like water, blow, blow in, pay through the nose, spill, waste, dissipate, exhaust, drain, eat out of house and home, overdraw, outrun the constable, run out, run through, misspend, throw good money after bad, throw the helve after the hatchet, burn the candle at both ends, make ducks and drakes of one's money, fool away one's money, potter away one's money, muddle away one's money, fritter away one's money, throw away one's money, run through one's money, pour water into a sieve, kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, manger son ble en herbe.

N  destruction, waste, dissolution, breaking up, diruption, disruption, consumption, disorganization, fall, downfall, devastation, ruin, perdition, crash, eboulement, smash, havoc, delabrement, debacle, break down, break up, fall apart, prostration, desolation, bouleversement, wreck, wrack, shipwreck, cataclysm, washout, extinction, annihilation, destruction of life, knock-down blow, doom, crack of doom, destroying, demolition, demolishment, overthrow, subversion, suppression, abolition, biblioclasm, sacrifice, ravage, razzia, inactivation, incendiarism, revolution, extirpation, beginning of the end, commencement de la fin, road to ruin, dilapidation, sabotage, destroyed, perishing, trembling to its fall, nodding to its fall, tottering to its fall, in course of destruction, extinct, all-destroying, all-devouring, all-engulfing, destructive, subversive, ruinous, devastating, incendiary, deletory, destroying, suicidal, deadly, with crushing effect, with a sledge hammer, delenda est Carthago, dum Roma deliberat Saguntum perit, ecrasez l'infame.

VB  be destroyed, perish, fall to the ground, tumble, topple, go to pieces, fall to pieces, break up, crumble to dust, go to the dogs, go to the wall, go to smash, go to shivers, go to wreck, go to pot, go to wrack and ruin, go by the board, go all to smash, be all over, be all up, be all with, totter to its fall, destroy, do away with, make away with, nullify, annual, sacrifice, demolish, tear up, overturn, overthrow, overwhelm, upset, subvert, put an end to, seal the doom of, do in, do for, dish, undo, break up, cut up, break down, cut down, pull down, mow down, blow down, beat down, suppress, quash, put down, do a job on, cut short, take off, blot out, dispel, dissipate, dissolve, consume, smash, crash, quell, squash, squelch, crumple up, shatter, shiver, batter to pieces, tear to pieces, crush to pieces, cut to pieces, shake to pieces, pull to pieces, pick to pieces, laniate, nip, tear to rags, tear to tatters, crush to atoms, knock to atoms, ruin, strike out, throw over, knock down over, fell, sink, swamp, scuttle, wreck, shipwreck, engulf, ingulf, submerge, lay in ashes, lay in ruins, sweep away, erase, wipe out, expunge, raze, level with the dust, level with the ground, waste, atomize, vaporize, deal destruction, desolate, devastate, lay waste, ravage gut, disorganize, dismantle, devour, swallow up, sap, mine, blast, bomb, blow to smithereens, drop the big one, confound, exterminate, extinguish, quench, annihilate, snuff out, put out, stamp out, trample out, lay in the dust, trample in the dust, prostrate, tread under foot, crush under foot, trample under foot, lay the ax to the root of, make short work of, make clean sweep of, make mincemeat of, cut up root and branch, chop into pieces, cut into ribbons, fling to the winds, scatter to the winds, throw overboard, strike at the root of, sap the foundations of, spring a mine, blow up, ravage with fire and sword, cast to the dogs, eradicate.

N  unproductiveness, infertility, sterility, infecundity, masturbation, impotence, unprofitableness, waste, desert, Sahara, wild, wilderness, howling wilderness, unproductive, acarpous, inoperative, barren, addled, infertile, unfertile, unprolific, arid, sterile, unfruitful, infecund, sine prole, fallow, teemless, issueless, fruitless, unprofitable, null and void, of no effect.

N  space, extension, extent, superficial extent, expanse, stretch, hyperspace, room, scope, range, field, way, expansion, compass, sweep, swing, spread, dimension, length, distance, size, volume, hypervolume, latitude, play, leeway, purchase, tolerance, room for maneuver, spare room, elbow room, house room, stowage, roomage, margin, opening, sphere, arena, open space, free space, void, waste, wildness, wilderness, moor, moorland, campagna, abyss, unlimited space, infinity, world, ubiquity, length and breadth of the land, proportions, acreage, acres, acres and perches, roods and perches, hectares, square miles, square inches, square yards, square centimeters, square meters, yards (clothing), ares, arpents, spacious, roomy, extensive, expansive, capacious, ample, widespread, vast, world-wide, uncircumscribed, boundless, shoreless, trackless, pathless, extended, extensively, wherever, everywhere, far and near, far and wide, right and left, all over, all the world over, throughout the world, throughout the length and breadth of the land, under the sun, in every quarter, in all quarters, in all lands, here there and everywhere, from pole to pole, from China to Peru, from Indus to the pole, from Dan to Beersheba, from end to end, on the face of the earth, in the wide world, from all points of the compass, to the four winds, to the uttermost parts of the earth.

VB  become small, become smaller, lessen, decrease, grow less, dwindle, shrink, contract, narrow, shrivel, collapse, wither, lose flesh, wizen, fall away, waste, wane, ebb, decay, be smaller than, fall short of, not come up to, render smaller, lessen, diminish, contract, draw in, narrow, coarctate, boil down, constrict, constringe, condense, compress, squeeze, corrugate, crimp, crunch, crush, crumple up, warp, purse up, pack, squeeze, stow, pinch, tighten, strangle, cramp, dwarf, bedwarf, shorten, circumscribe, restrain, (subtraction) 38 abrade, pare, reduce, attenuate, rub down, scrape, file, file down, grind, grind down, chip, shave, shear, wear down.

N  plain, table-land, face of the country, open country, champaign country, basin, downs, waste, weary waste, desert, wild, steppe, pampas, savanna, prairie, heath, common, wold, veldt, moor, moorland, bush, plateau, campagna, alkali flat, llano, mesa, mesilla, playa, shaking prairie, trembling prairie, vega, meadow, mead, haugh, pasturage, park, field, lawn, green, plat, plot, grassplat, greensward, sward, turf, sod, heather, lea, ley, lay, grounds, maidan, agostadero, champaign, alluvial, campestral, campestrial, campestrian, campestrine.

alkali waste, body waste, food waste, high-level radioactive waste, human waste, lay waste, lay waste to, laying waste, low-level radioactive waste, permissive waste, radioactive waste, toxic industrial waste, toxic waste, toxic waste area, toxic waste dump, toxic waste site, waste away, waste basket, waste material, waste matter, waste of effort, waste of energy, waste of material, waste of money, waste of time, waste one's time, waste paper, waste pipe, waste product, waste time