English
waste
Pronunciation Etymology 1

From Middle English wast, waste, from Anglo-Norman -, fro-nor wast, waste, from Frankish *wōstī, from Proto-Germanic , *wōstuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂-.

Displaced native Old English essian and strȳndan. Largely overtook Old English forspillan and weste.

Noun

waste

  1. Excess of material, useless by-products or damaged, unsaleable products; garbage; rubbish.
  2. Excrement or urine.
    The cage was littered with animal waste.
  3. A wasteland; an uninhabited desolate region; a wilderness or desert.
    • 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 ↗:
      We went down accordingly into the waste, and began to make our toilsome and devious travel towards the eastern verge.
  4. A place that has been laid waste or destroyed.
  5. A large tract of uncultivated land.
  6. (historical) The part of the land of a manor (of whatever size) not used for cultivation or grazing, nowadays treated as common land.
  7. A vast expanse of water.
  8. A disused mine or part of one.
  9. The action or progress of wasting; extravagant consumption or ineffectual use.
    That was a waste of time!
    Her life seemed a waste.
  10. Large abundance of something, specifically without it being used.
  11. Gradual loss or decay.
  12. A decaying of the body by disease; atrophy; wasting away.
  13. (rare) Destruction or devastation caused by war or natural disasters; see "to lay waste".
  14. (legal) 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.
  15. (geology) Material derived by mechanical and chemical erosion from the land, carried by streams to the sea.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Adjective

waste

  1. (MTE, slang, derogatory) Useless and contemptible.
Etymology 2

From Middle English wast, waste, from Anglo-Norman -, fro-nor wast, from Frankish *wōstī, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂-.

Adjective

waste

  1. (now, rare) Uncultivated, uninhabited.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:15.17?rgn=div2;view=fulltext xvij]”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XIII:
      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
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. Barren; desert; empty.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto III:
      ‘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: […]
    • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 255:
      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.
  3. Rejected as being defective; eliminated as being worthless; produced in excess.
  4. Superfluous; needless.
  5. Dismal; gloomy; cheerless.
    • 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 ↗:
      the savage Baron's heart […] became appalled as he gazed forward into the waste darkness of futurity.
  6. Unfortunate; disappointing.
Translations Translations Translations Etymology 3

From Middle English wasten, from Anglo-Norman -, fro-nor waster (compare also the variant gaster and French gâter from a related Old French word); the Anglo-Norman form waster was either from Frankish *wōstijan, from Proto-Indo-European *wāsto-, or alternatively from Latin vastāre, present active infinitive of vastō and influenced by the Frankish; the English word was assisted by similarity to native Middle English westen "to waste"; > English weest.

Verb

waste (wastes, present participle wasting; simple past and past participle wasted)

  1. (transitive) To devastate; to destroy.
    • 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Ianuarie. Aegloga Prima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], →OCLC ↗:
      Thou barrein ground, whome winters wrath hath wasted, / Art made a myrrour to behold my plight.
    • 1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗:
      The Tiber / Insults our walls, and wastes our fruitful grounds.
  2. (transitive) To squander (money or resources) uselessly; to spend (time) idly.
    We wasted millions of dollars and several years on that project.
    • 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:
      I like this place, / And willingly could waste my time in it.
    • 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 ↗:
      Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, / And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
    • 1909, Francis Galton, Memories of my life, page 69:
      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. .
  3. (transitive, slang) To kill; to murder.
  4. (transitive) 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.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Numbers 14:33 ↗:
      until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness
    • 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 ↗:
      Wasted by such a course of life, the infirmities of age daily grew on him.
  5. (intransitive) To gradually lose weight, weaken, become frail.
  6. (intransitive) To be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value etc. gradually.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, 1 Kings 17:14 ↗:
      […] 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.
  7. (law) To damage, impair, or injure (an estate, etc.) voluntarily, or by allowing the buildings, fences, etc., to fall into decay.
Conjugation
Conjugation of waste

infinitive (to) waste
present tense past tense
1st-person singular waste wasted
2nd-person singular

 waste, wastest†

 wasted, wastedst†
3rd-person singular

 wastes, wasteth†

 wasted
plural

 waste

subjunctive

 waste

wasted
imperative

 waste

—
participles

 wasting

 wasted

†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations

This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
Offline English dictionary