Definition of: waste

(wāst) adjective
1. Cast aside as worthless or of no practical value; used; worn out; discarded.
2. Excreted; cast out of an animal body, as food, etc.
3. Not under cultivation; untilled; hence, unproductive; unoccupied.
4. Made desolate; ruined; dismal; gloomy.
5. Containing or conveying waste products.
6. Produced in excess of consumption; superfluous: waste energy.
7. Obs. Wasteful; lavish.
—to lay waste To destroy utterly.
—v. wast·ed, wast·ing v.t.
1. To use or expend thoughtlessly, uselessly, or without return; be prodigal or extravagant of; squander.
2. To cause to lose strength, vigor, or bulk; make weak or feeble.
3. To use up; exhaust; consume.
4. To fail to use or take advantage of, as an opportunity.
5. To lay waste; desolate; devastate.
—v.i.
6. To lose strength, vigor, or bulk; become weak or feeble: often with away.
7. To diminish or dwindle gradually.
8. To pass gradually: said of time. See synonyms under SQUANDER, WEAR¹.
—noun
1. The act of wasting or squandering, or the state of being wasted; useless or unnecessary expenditure.
2. A place or a region that is devastated or made desolate; wilderness; desert.
3. A continuous, gradual diminishing of strength, vigor, or substance by use or wear.
4. The act of laying waste or devastating; ravage: the waste of war.
5. Something rejected as worthless or unneeded; specifically, tangled spun cotton thread, the refuse of a textile factory; also, steam or other fluid that escapes without being used.
6. Garbage; rubbish; trash.
7. The waste products of the soil due to erosion by chemical or human action and carried out to sea by running water.
8. A wasting disease; specifically, consumption. ♦ Homophone: waist. [<AF waster, ult. <L vastare lay waste <vastus desert, desolate. Related to VAST.] Synonyms (adj.): excess, extra, redundant, refuse, superfluous, useless, valueless, worthless. See BLEAK, VACANT. Antonyms: choice, good, precious, useful, valuable. Synonyms (noun): chaff, debris, dregs, dross, leavings, offal, offscouring, refuse, remains, scum, sediment. See EXCESS, LOSS.
Waste may appear as a combining form in hyphemes or solidemes, or as the first element in two–word phrases, with the meaning: containing or conveying refuse or waste; as in: