waste
noun
/weɪst/
not good use
1 uncountable, singular the act of using something in a careless or unnecessary way, causing it to be lost or destroyed I hate unnecessary waste.
It seems such a waste to throw good food away.
I hate to see good food go to waste (= be thrown away).
waste of something
The report is critical of the department's waste of resources.
What a waste of paper!
Collocations
adjective
verb + waste
go to
cause
avoid
preposition
waste of
2 singular waste (of something) a situation in which it is not worth spending time, money, etc. on something These meetings are a complete waste of time.
They believe the statue is a waste of taxpayers' money.
The whole exercise is just a waste of effort.
materials
3 uncountable (also wastes plural) materials that are no longer needed and are thrown away household/garden/industrial waste
hazardous/toxic/radioactive waste
Landfills for solid wastes have started reaching their capacity.
waste disposal (= the process of getting rid of waste)
The private sector plays a significant role in waste management.
Waste water going out into the rivers was reduced by 92 per cent.
Collocations
adjective
verb + waste
waste + verb
waste + noun
4 (also waste matter) uncountable solid or liquid material that the body gets rid of The farmers use both animal and human waste as fertilizer.
land
5 wastes plural (formal) a large area of land where there are very few people, animals or plants the frozen wastes of Siberia
Collocations
adjective
Idioms
/weɪst/
/weɪst/
not use well
1 to use more of something than is necessary or useful
waste something
Stop wasting time and just get on with it!
to waste food/energy/resources
waste something on something
Why waste money on clothes you don't need?
We got straight down to business without wasting time on small talk.
waste something (in) doing something
She wasted no time in rejecting the offer (= she rejected it immediately).
You're wasting your time trying to explain it to him (= because he will not understand).
Collocations
adverb
verb + waste
can’t afford to
not want to
hate to…
preposition
on
phrases
no time to waste
waste somebody/something
It was a wasted opportunity.
His talents are wasted in that job.
He felt that he had wasted his life.
waste somebody/something as something
You're wasted as a sales manager—you should have been an actor.
3 waste something (on somebody/something) to give, say, use, etc. something good where it is not valued or used in the way that it should be
Don't waste your sympathy on him—he got what he deserved.
Expensive wine is wasted on me (= because I cannot appreciate it properly).
Her comments were not wasted on Chris (= he understood what she meant).
In the end her efforts were not entirely wasted.
kill somebody
4 waste somebody (informal, especially North American English) to get rid of somebody, usually by killing them
defeat somebody
5 waste somebody (North American English, informal) to defeat somebody very badly in a game or competition
Idioms
Word Origin
Middle English: from Old Northern French wast(e) (noun), waster (verb), based on Latin vastus ‘unoccupied, uncultivated’.
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