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Definition of "waste" []

  • To use, consume, spend, or expend thoughtlessly or carelessly. (verb-transitive)
  • To cause to lose energy, strength, or vigor; exhaust, tire, or enfeeble: Disease wasted his body. (verb-transitive)
  • To fail to take advantage of or use for profit; lose: waste an opportunity. (verb-transitive)
  • To destroy completely. (verb-transitive)
  • Slang To kill; murder. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "waste" in a sentence
  • "We have the total waste of $225,496,741 and this, reduced to its actual significance, means that of the total actual terminations, 83.6 per cent. was _actual waste_ and only 16.4 per cent. legitimate terminations, while the great bulk of the last item of"
  • "Do you think that over a £billion a year in waste is a good thing in this system?"
  • "OK, if 13% admin waste is not enough to establish my point, then say 40%."