waste

plural wastes

1. countableuncountableExcess of material, useless by-products, or damaged, unsaleable products; garbage; rubbish.

   Illegal waste dumped near an airport and weighing an estimated 400 tonnes is being sifted through in an attempt to identify those responsible for it.

   2026 September 2, Damian O'Neil, Hannah Mitchell, Federica Bendendo, “Hunt to find 400-tonne waste dump culprits”, in BBC News, retrieved 04 Sep 2026

2. countableuncountableExcrement or urine.

   The cage was littered with animal waste.

3. countableuncountableA wasteland; an uninhabited desolate region; a wilderness or desert.

   We went down accordingly into the waste, and began to make our toilsome and devious travel towards the eastern verge.

   1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC

   1 more example

   The pampas of Argentina and the chilly wastes of Patagonia, like the prairies and deserts of North America, were largely shunned by Spanish settlers until the 1870s.

   1992, Edwin Williamson, The Penguin history of Latin America, London; New York: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 33

4. countableuncountableA place that has been laid waste or destroyed.
5. countableuncountableA large tract of uncultivated land.
6. countablehistoricaluncountableThe part of the land of a manor (of whatever size) not used for cultivation or grazing, nowadays treated as common land.
7. countableuncountableA vast expanse of water.
8. countableuncountableA disused mine or part of one.
9. countableuncountableThe action or progress of wasting; extravagant consumption or ineffectual use.

   Her life seemed a waste.

   2 more examples

   That was a waste of time!

   'Rebel railwaymen' at Birmingham New Street refused to wear the new uniforms on the grounds that they were a "complete waste of public money".

   2023 March 22, Mike Esbester, “Staff, the public and industry will suffer”, in RAIL, number 979, page 39

10. countableuncountableLarge abundance of something, specifically without it being used.
11. countableuncountableGradual loss or decay.
12. countableuncountableA decaying of the body by disease; atrophy; wasting away.
13. countablerareuncountableDestruction or devastation caused by war or natural disasters; see "to lay waste".
14. countableuncountablelawA cause of action which may be brought by the owner of a future interest in property against the current owner of that property to prevent the current owner from degrading the value or character of the property, either intentionally or through neglect.
15. countableuncountablegeographyMaterial derived by mechanical and chemical erosion from the land, carried by streams to the sea.

comparative more waste · superlative most waste

1. derogatoryslangUseless and contemptible.

   Waste / Don't talk to me / You're so waste

   2022 September 22, “ONTARIO PLACE”, in BADMAN, performed by Bert Le Plug

   1 more example

   Niggas moves so waste / Please, come outside the house and show yourself / So I can say it to your face

   2017 March 18, “Free Smoke”, in More Life, performed by Drake

comparative more waste · superlative most waste

1. archaicUncultivated, uninhabited.

   SOo whanne syr Galahad was departed from the castel of maydens / he rode tyl he came to a waste forest / & there he mette with syre launcelot and syr Percyuale but they knewe hym not / for he was newe desguysed / Ryghte so syr launcelot his fader dressid his spere and brake it vpon syr Galahad

   1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xvij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XIII

2. Barren; desert; empty.

   ‘The stars,’ she whispers, ‘blindly run; ⁠A web is wov’n across the sky; ⁠From out waste places comes a cry, And murmurs from the dying sun: […]

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto III”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC

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   For centuries the shrine at Mecca had been of merely local importance, far outshone by the Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem, whose cult Christians had in good measure renewed by their pilgrimage in honour of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, while leaving the actual site of the Jerusalem Temple dishonoured and waste.

   2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 255

3. Rejected as being defective; eliminated as being worthless; produced in excess.

   Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy.

   2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist

4. Superfluous; needless.
5. Dismal; gloomy; cheerless.

   the savage Baron's heart[…] became appalled as he gazed forward into the waste darkness of futurity.

   1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC

6. Unfortunate; disappointing.

present singular third person wastes · participle present wasting · participle past wasted · past wasted · first person past singular wasted · archaic present second person singular wastest · past second person singular wasted · archaic past second person singular wastedst · present singular third person wastes · archaic present singular third person wasteth · past singular third person wasted · past plural wasted · past subjunctive wasted · participle present wasting · participle past wasted

1. transitiveTo devastate; to destroy.

   The Tiber / Insults our walls, and wastes our fruitful grounds.

   1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

   1 more example

   Thou barrein ground, whome winters wrath hath wasted, / Art made a myrrour to behold my plight.

   1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Ianuarie. Aegloga Prima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], →OCLC

2. transitiveTo squander (money or resources) uselessly; to spend (time) idly; to dissipate.

   We wasted millions of dollars and several years on that project.

   4 more examples

   I like this place, / And willingly could waste my time in it.

   c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi], lines 812–813

   Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, / And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

   1750 June 12 (date written; published 1751), T[homas] Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, in Designs by Mr. R[ichard] Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley, […], published 1753, →OCLC

   A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails.[…]This set-up solves several problems […]. Stopping high-speed trains wastes energy and time, so why not simply slow them down enough for a moving platform to pull alongside?

   2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly)

   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, page 69

   Synonyms: devour

3. slangtransitiveTo kill; to murder.

   Synonyms: cack

4. transitiveTo wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to deteriorate; to diminish by constant loss; to use up; to consume; to spend; to wear out.

   until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 14:33

   1 more example

   Wasted by such a course of life, the infirmities of age daily grew on him.

   1769, William Robertson, The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] W. and W. Strahan, for W[illiam] Strahan, T[homas] Cadell, […]; and J. Balfour, […], →OCLC

   Synonyms: devour

5. intransitiveTo gradually lose weight, weaken, become frail.
6. intransitiveTo be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value etc. gradually.

   […]The barrell of meale shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oile faile, vntill the day that the Lord sendeth raine vpon the earth.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings 17:14

7. lawTo damage, impair, or injure (an estate, etc.) voluntarily, or by allowing the buildings, fences, etc., to fall into decay.