waste
1. any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted (Freq. 5)
- they collect the waste once a week
- much of the waste material is carried off in the sewers
• Syn:
waste material, waste matter, waste product
• Hypernyms:
material, stuff
• Hyponyms:
impurity, dross, exhaust, exhaust fumes, fumes,
body waste, excretion, excreta, excrement, excretory product, filth,
crud, skank, sewage, sewerage, effluent, wastewater,
sewer water, garbage, refuse, food waste, scraps, pollutant,
rubbish, trash, scrap, slop, toxic waste, toxic industrial waste
2. useless or profitless activity;
using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly (Freq. 4)
- if the effort brings no compensating gain it is a waste
- mindless dissipation of natural resources
• Syn:
wastefulness, dissipation
• Derivationally related forms:
dissipate (for: dissipation), wasteful (for: wastefulness)
• Hypernyms:
activity
• Hyponyms:
boondoggle, waste of effort, waste of energy, waste of material, waste of money,
waste of money, extravagance, prodigality, lavishness, highlife,
high life, squandering
3. the trait of wasting resources (Freq. 1)
- a life characterized by thriftlessness and waste
- the wastefulness of missed opportunities
• Syn:
thriftlessness, wastefulness
• Derivationally related forms:
wasteful (for: wastefulness), thriftless (for: thriftlessness)
• Hypernyms:
improvidence, shortsightedness
4. (law) reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect
• Syn:
permissive waste
• Topics:
law, jurisprudence
• Hypernyms:
act, deed, human action, human activity
5. an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation
- the barrens of central Africa
- the trackless wastes of the desert
• Syn:
barren, wasteland
• Derivationally related forms:
barren (for: barren)
• Hypernyms:
wilderness, wild
• Hyponyms:
heath, heathland
1. spend thoughtlessly;
throw away (Freq. 10)
- He wasted his inheritance on his insincere friends
- You squandered the opportunity to get and advanced degree
• Syn:
blow, squander
• Ant:
conserve
• Derivationally related forms:
squanderer (for: squander), waster
• Hypernyms:
use, expend
• Hyponyms:
burn
• Verb Group:
blow
• Verb Frames:
- Somebody ----s something
2. use inefficiently or inappropriately (Freq. 8)
- waste heat
- waste a joke on an unappreciative audience
• Hypernyms:
use, utilize, utilise, apply, employ
• Verb Frames:
- Somebody ----s something
- Something ----s something
3. get rid of
- We waste the dirty water by channeling it into the sewer
• Hypernyms:
discard, fling, toss, toss out, toss away,
chuck out, cast aside, dispose, throw out, cast out, throw away,
cast away, put away
• Verb Frames:
- Somebody ----s something
4. get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing
- The mafia liquidated the informer
- the double agent was neutralized
• Syn:
neutralize, neutralise, liquidate, knock off, do in
• Derivationally related forms:
liquidation (for: liquidate), liquidator (for: liquidate)
• Hypernyms:
kill
• Verb Frames:
- Somebody ----s somebody
- They want to waste the prisoners
5. cause to grow thin or weak
- The treatment emaciated him
• Syn:
emaciate, macerate
• Derivationally related forms:
maceration (for: macerate), emaciation (for: emaciate), wastage, wasting
• Hypernyms:
enfeeble, debilitate, drain
• Cause:
emaciate
• Verb Frames:
- Something ----s somebody
6. cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly
- The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion
• Syn:
lay waste to, devastate, desolate, ravage, scourge
• Derivationally related forms:
scourge (for: scourge), ravage (for: ravage), ravaging (for: ravage), desolation (for: desolate), devastation (for: devastate), waster
• Hypernyms:
destroy, ruin
• Hyponyms:
ruin
• Verb Frames:
- Somebody ----s something
- Something ----s something
7. become physically weaker
- Political prisoners are wasting away in many prisons all over the world
• Syn:
rot
• Derivationally related forms:
wastage
• Hypernyms:
devolve, deteriorate, drop, degenerate
• Hyponyms:
necrose, gangrene, mortify, sphacelate
• Verb Frames:
- Something ----s
8. run off as waste
- The water wastes back into the ocean
• Syn:
run off
• Derivationally related forms:
runoff (for: run off)
• Hypernyms:
run, flow, feed, course
• Verb Frames:
- Something ----s
- Something is ----ing PP
9. spend extravagantly
- waste not, want not
• Syn:
consume, squander, ware
• Derivationally related forms:
waster, squanderer (for: squander), squandering (for: squander)
• Hypernyms:
spend, expend, drop
• Hyponyms:
fritter, frivol away, dissipate, shoot, fritter away,
fool, fool away, luxuriate, wanton, lavish, shower,
overspend, splurge, fling
• Verb Frames:
- Somebody ----s something
- Somebody ----s
10. lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief
- After her husband died, she just pined away
• Syn:
pine away, languish
• Derivationally related forms:
languisher (for: languish), wastage
• Hypernyms:
weaken
• Verb Frames:
- Something ----s
- Somebody ----s
located in a dismal or remote area;
desolate
- a desert island
- a godforsaken wilderness crossroads
- a wild stretch of land
- waste places
• Syn:
godforsaken, wild
• Similar to:
inhospitable
• Derivationally related forms:
wild (for: wild), wilderness (for: wild)
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