waste not, want not

proverb

If one is not wasteful then one will not be in need.

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Meanings

proverb
  1. idiomaticIf one is not wasteful then one will not be in need.

    I'm a believer in “waste not, want not”, and we roast our leftover bread, finely sliced and brushed with olive oil, in a low oven.

    2006 July 9, Richard Corrigan, “Fish tales”, in Sunday Times, UK, retrieved 05 Jul 2008
    2 more examples

    Besides these, there were some little pleasures in the shape of helping her to vegetable she didn't want, and when it had nearly alighted on her plate, taking it across for his own use, on the plea of waste not, want not.

    1872, [Thomas Hardy], “VIII. They Dance More Wildly”, in Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School, volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, →OCLC, part I, page 114

    “They take the cocoa-nuts to the town kitchen,” said the captain, “to be made into cocoa-nut ice for the army breakfast; waste not want not, you know.”

    1910, Edith Nesbit, chapter 2, in The Magic City

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 儉以防匱 /俭以防匮
  • 儉以防匱 /俭以防匮 (jiǎnyǐfángkuì)If one is not wasteful then one will not be in need
Finnish säästäväisyys on hyve
  • säästäväisyys on hyveIf one is not wasteful then one will not be in need
French tout est bon dans le cochon
  • tout est bon dans le cochonIf one is not wasteful then one will not be in need
German spare in der Zeit, so hast du in der Not
  • spare in der Zeit, so hast du in der NotIf one is not wasteful then one will not be in need
Italian il risparmio è il miglior guadagno
  • il risparmio è il miglior guadagnoIf one is not wasteful then one will not be in need
Polish nie marnuj, a nie będziesz w potrzebie
  • nie marnuj, a nie będziesz w potrzebieIf one is not wasteful then one will not be in need
Cite this entry
APA

waste not, want not. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waste%20not%2C%20want%20not

MLA

“waste not, want not.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waste%20not%2C%20want%20not. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “waste not, want not,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waste%20not%2C%20want%20not.

Source: waste not, want not on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.