waste

waste - Dictionary definition and meaning for word waste

Definition
(noun) any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted
Example Sentence
  • they collect the waste once a week
  • much of the waste material is carried off in the sewers
Definition
(noun) useless or profitless activity; using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly
Synonyms : dissipation , wastefulness
Example Sentence
  • if the effort brings no compensating gain it is a waste
  • mindless dissipation of natural resources
Definition
(noun) the trait of wasting resources
Example Sentence
  • a life characterized by thriftlessness and waste
  • the wastefulness of missed opportunities
Definition
(noun) an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation
Synonyms : barren , wasteland
Example Sentence
  • the barrens of central Africa
  • the trackless wastes of the desert
Definition
(noun) (law) reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect
Synonyms : permissive waste
Definition
(verb) spend thoughtlessly; throw away
Synonyms : blow , squander
Example Sentence
  • He wasted his inheritance on his insincere friends
  • You squandered the opportunity to get and advanced degree
Definition
(verb) use inefficiently or inappropriately
Example Sentence
  • waste heat
  • waste a joke on an unappreciative audience
Definition
(verb) get rid of
Example Sentence
  • We waste the dirty water by channeling it into the sewer
Definition
(verb) run off as waste
Synonyms : run off
Example Sentence
  • The water wastes back into the ocean
Definition
(verb) get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing
Example Sentence
  • The mafia liquidated the informer
  • the double agent was neutralized
Definition
(verb) spend extravagantly
Synonyms : consume , squander , ware
Example Sentence
  • waste not, want not
Definition
(verb) lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief
Synonyms : languish , pine away
Example Sentence
  • After her husband died, she just pined away
Definition
(verb) cause to grow thin or weak
Synonyms : emaciate , macerate
Example Sentence
  • The treatment emaciated him
Definition
(verb) cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly
Example Sentence
  • The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion
Definition
(verb) become physically weaker
Synonyms : rot
Example Sentence
  • Political prisoners are wasting away in many prisons all over the world
Definition
(adj) located in a dismal or remote area; desolate
Synonyms : godforsaken , wild
Example Sentence
  • a desert island
  • a godforsaken wilderness crossroads
  • a wild stretch of land
  • waste places

Memory aid to help you memorize this

Download Our Mobile Apps

Please note that the apps on the website are currently in beta mode.