Waste Definition

wāst

wasted, wastes, wasting

verb

wasted, wastes, wasting

To wear away; consume gradually; use up.

Webster's New World

To be used up or worn down gradually; become smaller or fewer by gradual loss.

Webster's New World

To make weak, feeble, or emaciated; wear away the strength, vigor, or life of.

A man wasted by age and disease.

Webster's New World

To destroy; devastate; ruin.

Webster's New World

To pass or be spent.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Antonyms:
conserve
get results
use well
profit
manage wisely
be thrifty
save
hoard
preserve
create
build
enrich
develop
grow

noun

wastes

Uncultivated or uninhabited land, as a desert or wilderness.

Webster's New World

A wasting or being wasted.

Webster's New World

A desolate, uncultivated, or devastated stretch, tract, or area.

Webster's New World

A vast expanse, as of the sea.

Webster's New World

Useless, superfluous, or discarded material, as ashes, garbage, or sewage.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Antonyms:
profit
use
value
development
hoarding
saving
possessions

adjective

Uncultivated or uninhabited; wild; barren; desolate.

Webster's New World

Left over, superfluous, refuse, or no longer of use.

A waste product.

Webster's New World

Excreted from the body as useless or superfluous material.

Webster's New World

Excreted from the body.

Waste matter.

American Heritage

Produced in excess of what is or can be used.

Waste energy.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

idiom

waste (one's) breath

To gain or accomplish nothing by speaking.

American Heritage

go to waste

to be or become wasted

Webster's New World

lay waste (to)

to destroy; devastate; make desolate

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Waste

Noun

Singular:

waste

Plural:

wastes

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Waste

waste (one's) breath
go to waste
lay waste (to)

Origin of Waste

From Middle English wasten (“to waste, lay waste"), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French waster (“to waste, devastate") (cf. also the variant gaster and French gâter from a related Old French word); the Anglo-Norman form waster was either from Old Frankish *wuastan, *wuostan, *wuostjan (“to lay waste, devastate"), from Proto-Germanic *wōstijanÄ… (“to waste"), from Proto-Indo-European *wāsto- (“empty, wasted"), or alternatively from Latin vastāre, present active infinitive of vastō and influenced by the Frankish; the English word was assisted by similarity to native Middle English westen ("to waste"; > English weest). Cognate with Old High German wuostan, wuastan, wuostjan ("to waste"; > Modern German wüsten), Old English wÄ“stan (“to lay waste, ravage").

From Wiktionary
From Middle English waste (noun, “a waste"), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wast, waste (“a waste"), from Old Frankish *wuasti, *wuosti (“a waste") and *wōstin, *wōstinna (“a waste, wasteland, desert"), from Proto-Germanic *wōstÄ« (“a waste"), *wōstinjō (“a waste, wasteland"), from Proto-Indo-European *wāsto- (“empty, wasted"). Cognate with Old High German wuosti, wuasti ("a waste"; > Modern German Wüste), Old High German wuostinna (“a desert, waste"), Old English wÄ“sten (“a waste, wasteland"). Non Germanic cognates include Latin vastus (“waste, desert") and Albanian vjeshtÃ« (“autumn").

From Wiktionary
From Middle English waste (adjective, “waste"), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wast (“waste"), from Old Frankish *wuasti, *wuosti (“waste, empty"), from Proto-Germanic *wōstijaz (“wasted, abandoned, empty"), from Proto-Indo-European *wāsto- (“empty, wasted"). Cognate with Old High German wuosti, wuasti (“waste, empty"), Old Saxon wōsti (“desolate"), Old English wÄ“ste (“waste, barren, desolate, empty").

From Wiktionary
Middle English wasten from Old North French waster from Latin vāstāre to make empty from vāstus empty euə- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition