waste

Waste is defined as to destroy, wear away or use up.

(verb)

An example of to waste is spending money on silly things.

Waste is matter excreted from the body, or unwanted or discarded matter.

(noun)

The definition of waste is a wild or uninhabited place.

(adjective)

An example of waste is the Sahara Desert.

See waste in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb wasted, wasting

to destroy; devastate; ruin
to wear away; consume gradually; use up
to make weak, feeble, or emaciated; wear away the strength, vigor, or life of: a man wasted by age and disease
to use up or spend without real need, gain, or purpose; squander
to fail to take proper advantage of: to waste an opportunity
☆ Slang to kill, usually with violence; esp., to murder

Origin: ME wasten < NormFr waster < L vastare, to lay waste, devastate (< vastus: see vast): infl. by Gmc *wostjan > OHG wuosten

intransitive verb

to lose strength, health, vigor, flesh, etc., as by disease; become weak or enfeebled: often with away
to be used up or worn down gradually; become smaller or fewer by gradual loss
Now Rare to pass or be spent: said of time
to be wasted, or not put to full or proper use

adjective

uncultivated or uninhabited; wild; barren; desolate
left over, superfluous, refuse, or no longer of use: a waste product
produced in excess of what is or can be used: waste energy
excreted from the body as useless or superfluous material: said as of feces or urine
used to carry off or hold waste or refuse: a waste pipe, wastebasket

Origin: ME wast < NormFr < L vastus: see vast

noun

uncultivated or uninhabited land, as a desert or wilderness
1. a desolate, uncultivated, or devastated stretch, tract, or area
2. a vast expanse, as of the sea
a wasting or being wasted; specif.,
1. a useless or profitless spending or consuming; squandering, as of money or time
2. a failure to take advantage (of something)
3. a gradual loss, decrease, or destruction by use, wear, decay, deterioration, etc.
useless, superfluous, or discarded material, as ashes, garbage or sewage
matter excreted from the body, as feces or urine
cotton fiber or yarn left over from the process of milling, used for wiping machinery, packing bearings, etc.
Obsolete ruin or devastation, as by war or fire
Physical Geog. material derived by land erosion or disintegration of rock, and carried to the sea by rivers and streams

Origin: ME < NormFr < the adj.; also in part < L vastum, neut. of vastus

See waste in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb wast·ed, wast·ing, wastes

verb, transitive

To use, consume, spend, or expend thoughtlessly or carelessly.
To cause to lose energy, strength, or vigor; exhaust, tire, or enfeeble: Disease wasted his body.
To fail to take advantage of or use for profit; lose: waste an opportunity.
a. To destroy completely.
b. Slang To kill; murder.

verb, intransitive

To lose energy, strength, weight, or vigor; become weak or enfeebled: wasting away from an illness.
To pass without being put to use: Time is wasting.

noun

The act or an instance of wasting or the condition of being wasted: a waste of talent; gone to waste.
A place, region, or land that is uninhabited or uncultivated; a desert or wilderness.
A devastated or destroyed region, town, or building; a ruin.
a. An unusable or unwanted substance or material, such as a waste product.
b. Something, such as steam, that escapes without being used.
Garbage; trash.
The undigested residue of food eliminated from the body; excrement.

adjective