| Main Entry: | waste |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | garbage, refuse |
Synonyms: |
debris, dreck, dregs, dross, excess, hogwash, junk, leavings, leftovers, litter, offal, offscourings, rubbish, rubble, ruins, rummage, scrap, slop, sweepings, swill, trash |
| Notes: | wastage is loss through use such as wear, leakage, or decay; the gradual process of wasting; or an amount that is wasted -- while waste is loss through carelessness, inefficiency, or ignorance or another word for garbage or rubbish |
Antonyms: |
possessions |
| Concept: | Waste. |
| Category: | 2. Subservience to ends; actual subservience |
Synonyms: |
-nouns
consumption, expenditure, exhaustion; dispersion; ebb; leakage (exudation); loss; wear and tear; waste; prodigality; misuse; wasting; rubbish (useless)., mountain in labor.
-verbs
spend, expend, use, consume, swallow up, exhaust; impoverish; spill, drain, empty; disperse., cast away, fool away, muddle away, throw away, fling away, fritter away; burn the candle at both ends, waste; squander., "waste its sweetness on the desert air " [Gray]; cast one's bread upon the waters, cast pearls before swine; employ a steam engine to crack a nut, waste powder and shot, break a butterfly on a weel; labor in vain (useless); cut blocks with a razor, pour water into a sieve., leak (run out); run to waste; ebb; melt away, run dry, dry up.
-adjectives
wasted; at a low ebb., wasteful (prodigal); penny wise and pound foolish.
-phrases
magno conatu magnas nugas; le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle; "idly busy rolls their world away" [Goldsmith].
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