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.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Waste entered Middle English from Old French waster, based on Latin vastus “unoccupied, uncultivated, void.” The sense “refuse” is recorded from the late 17th century, while the expression lay waste dates from the early 16th century.

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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