Refine this word faster
Waste
Definitions
- 1 Useless and contemptible. derogatory, slang
"Niggas moves so waste / Please, come outside the house and show yourself / So I can say it to your face"
- 2 Uncultivated, uninhabited. archaic
"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"
- 3 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: […]"
- 4 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."
- 5 Superfluous; needless.
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Dismal; gloomy; cheerless.
"the savage Baron's heart[…] became appalled as he gazed forward into the waste darkness of futurity."
- 7 Unfortunate; disappointing.
- 1 located in a dismal or remote area; desolate wordnet
- 1 Excess of material, useless by-products, or damaged, unsaleable products; garbage; rubbish. countable, uncountable
- 2 useless or profitless activity; using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly wordnet
- 3 Excrement or urine. countable, uncountable
"The cage was littered with animal waste."
- 4 (law) reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect wordnet
- 5 A wasteland; an uninhabited desolate region; a wilderness or desert. countable, uncountable
"We went down accordingly into the waste, and began to make our toilsome and devious travel towards the eastern verge."
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 the trait of wasting resources wordnet
- 7 A place that has been laid waste or destroyed. countable, uncountable
- 8 an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation wordnet
- 9 A large tract of uncultivated land. countable, uncountable
- 10 any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted wordnet
- 11 The part of the land of a manor (of whatever size) not used for cultivation or grazing, nowadays treated as common land. countable, historical, uncountable
- 12 A vast expanse of water. countable, uncountable
- 13 A disused mine or part of one. countable, uncountable
- 14 The action or progress of wasting; extravagant consumption or ineffectual use. countable, uncountable
"That was a waste of time!"
- 15 Large abundance of something, specifically without it being used. countable, uncountable
- 16 Gradual loss or decay. countable, uncountable
- 17 A decaying of the body by disease; atrophy; wasting away. countable, uncountable
- 18 Destruction or devastation caused by war or natural disasters; see "to lay waste". countable, rare, uncountable
- 19 A 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. countable, uncountable
- 20 Material derived by mechanical and chemical erosion from the land, carried by streams to the sea. countable, uncountable
- 1 To devastate; to destroy. transitive
"Thou barrein ground, whome winters wrath hath wasted, / Art made a myrrour to behold my plight."
- 2 become physically weaker wordnet
- 3 To squander (money or resources) uselessly; to spend (time) idly; to dissipate. transitive
"We wasted millions of dollars and several years on that project."
- 4 cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly wordnet
- 5 To kill; to murder. slang, transitive
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 cause to grow thin or weak wordnet
- 7 To wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to deteriorate; to diminish by constant loss; to use up; to consume; to spend; to wear out. transitive
"until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness"
- 8 lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief wordnet
- 9 To gradually lose weight, weaken, become frail. intransitive
- 10 spend extravagantly wordnet
- 11 To be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value etc. gradually. intransitive
"[…]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."
- 12 use inefficiently or inappropriately wordnet
- 13 To damage, impair, or injure (an estate, etc.) voluntarily, or by allowing the buildings, fences, etc., to fall into decay.
- 14 get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing wordnet
- 15 run off as waste wordnet
- 16 dispose of wordnet
- 17 spend thoughtlessly; throw away wordnet
Etymology
From Middle English wast, waste (“a waste”, noun), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wast, waste (“a waste”), from Frankish *wōstī (“a waste”), from Proto-Germanic *wōstaz, *wōstuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty, wasted”).
From Middle English wast, waste (“a waste”, noun), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wast, waste (“a waste”), from Frankish *wōstī (“a waste”), from Proto-Germanic *wōstaz, *wōstuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty, wasted”).
From Middle English wast, waste (“waste”, adjective), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wast (“waste”), from Frankish *wōstī (“waste, empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty, wasted”). Cognate with Old High German wuosti, wuasti (“waste, empty”), German wüst, Old Saxon wōsti (“desolate”), Old English wēste (“waste, barren, desolate, empty”).
From Middle English wasten (“to waste, lay waste”), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French waster (“to waste, devastate”) (compare also the variant gaster and French gâter from a related Old French word); the Anglo-Norman form waster was either from Frankish *wōstijan (“to waste”), from Proto-Indo-European *wāsto- (“empty, wasted”), or alternatively from Latin vastāre 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 wēstan (“to lay waste, ravage”). Displaced native Old English essian and strȳndan. Largely overtook Old English forspillan and wēstan.
See also for "waste"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: waste