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v. wast·ed, wast·ing, wastes v.tr. 1. To use, consume, spend, or expend thoughtlessly or carelessly. 2. To cause to lose energy, strength, or vigor; exhaust, tire, or enfeeble: Disease wasted his body. 3. To fail to take advantage of or use for profit; lose: waste an opportunity. 4. a. To destroy completely: The invaders wasted the village. b. Slang To kill; murder. v.intr. 1. To lose energy, strength, weight, or vigor; become weak or enfeebled: wasting away from an illness. 2. To pass without being put to use: Time is wasting. n. 1. The act or an instance of wasting or the condition of being wasted: a waste of talent; gone to waste. 2. A place, region, or land that is uninhabited or uncultivated; a desert or wilderness. 3. A devastated or destroyed region, town, or building; a ruin. 4. a. An unusable or unwanted substance or material, such as a waste product: industrial wastes. b. Something, such as steam, that escapes without being used. 5. Garbage; trash. 6. The undigested residue of food eliminated from the body; excrement. adj. Idiom: 1. Regarded or discarded as worthless or useless: waste trimmings. 2. Used as a conveyance or container for refuse: a waste bin. 3. Excreted from the body: waste matter. waste (one's) breath To gain or accomplish nothing by speaking. [Middle English wasten, from Old North French waster, from Latin vāstāre, to make empty, from vāstus, empty; see euə- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] Synonyms: waste, blow1, dissipate, fritter1, squander These verbs mean to spend or expend without restraint and often to no avail: wasted my inheritance; blew a fortune at the casino; dissipated their energies in pointless argument; frittering away her entire allowance; squandered his talent on writing jingles. Antonym: save1 |
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