waste

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To use time, money, or resources badly so that they are lost or have no useful result.

   Don't waste your money on things you'll never use.

2. 2
   noun

   Materials that are no longer wanted and are thrown away.

   The factory dumps its waste into the river.

3. 3
   noun

   The act of using something carelessly so that too much is lost.

   Leaving the lights on all night is a waste of electricity.

4. 4
   verb

   To destroy a place completely.

   The invading army laid waste to the entire region.

Common collocations

• waste an hour Verb + noun
• waste a year Verb + noun

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…

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