waste

[[t]we͟ɪst[/t]]

♦♦

wastes, wasting, wasted

1) VERB If you waste something such as time, money, or energy, you use too much of it doing something that is not important or necessary, or is unlikely to succeed.

[V n -ing] There could be many reasons and he was not going to waste time speculating on them...

[V n on n] I resolved not to waste money on a hotel...

[V n] The system wastes a large amount of water.

N-SING: a N of n

Waste is also a noun.

It is a waste of time going to the doctor with most mild complaints... I think that is a total waste of money.

2) N-UNCOUNT Waste is the use of money or other resources on things that do not need it.

The packets are measured to reduce waste...

I hate waste. Two weeks was reasonable, but this is far too much.

3) N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl Waste is material which has been used and is no longer wanted, for example because the valuable or useful part of it has been taken out.

Congress passed a law that regulates the disposal of waste...

Up to 10 million tonnes of toxic wastes are produced every year in the UK.

...the process of eliminating body waste.

4) VERB If you waste an opportunity for something, you do not take advantage of it when it is available.

[V n] Let's not waste an opportunity to see the children...

[V-ed] It was a wasted opportunity.

5) VERB: usu passive If you say that something is wasted on someone, you mean that there is no point giving it or telling it to them as they will not appreciate, understand, or pay any attention to it.

[be V-ed on n] All the well-meant, sincere advice is largely wasted on him.

Syn:

be lost on

6) ADJ: usu ADJ n Waste land is land, especially in or near a city, which is not used or looked after by anyone, and so is covered by wild plants and rubbish.

There was a patch of waste land behind the church...

Yarrow can be found growing wild in fields and on waste ground.

7) N-PLURAL: adj N, N of n Wastes are a large area of land, for example a desert, in which there are very few people, plants, or animals.

...the barren wastes of the Sahara.

8) → See also wasted

9) PHRASE: V inflects If something goes to waste, it remains unused or has to be thrown away.

So much of his enormous effort and talent will go to waste if we are forced to drop one hour of the film...

Mexican cookery is economical, she says. Nothing goes to waste.

Syn:

be wasted

10) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If something or someone lays waste an area or town or lays waste to it, they completely destroy it.

The war has laid waste large regions of the countryside.

...cities laid waste by the decline of traditional industries...

The aphid is now laying waste to the wheat and barley fields.

Syn:

annihilate

11) PHRASE The expression waste not, want not means that if you do not use too much of something now you will have some left later when you need it.

...a nation that prides itself on its `waste not, want not' thrift and its environmental conscience.

12) to waste your breath → see breath

to waste no time → see time

Phrasal Verbs:

- waste away