waste
adj 1: disposed of as useless; "waste paper" [syn: {cast-off(a)}, {discarded},
{junked}, {scrap(a)}]
2: located in a dismal or remote area; desolate; "a desert
island"; "a godforsaken wilderness crossroads"; "a wild
stretch of land"; "waste places" [syn: {desert}, {godforsaken},
{wild}]
n 1: any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted;
"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}]
2: useless or profitless activity; using or expending or
consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly: "if the effort
brings no compensating gain it is a waste"; "mindless
dissipaton of natural resources" [syn: {wastefulness}, {dissipation}]
3: the trait of wasting resources; "a life characterized by
thriftlessness and waste"; "the wastefulness of missed
opportunities" [syn: {thriftlessness}, {wastefulness}]
4: an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation;
"the barrens of central Africa"; "the trackless wastes of
the desert" [syn: {barren}, {wasteland}]
5: (law) reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or
neglect [syn: {permissive waste}]
v 1: spend thoughtlessly; throw away; "He wasted his inheritance
on his insincere friends" [syn: {blow}, {squander}]
[ant: {conserve}]
2: use inefficiently or inappropriately; "waste heat"; "waste a
joke on an unappreciative audience"
3: get rid of; "We waste the dirty water by channeling it into
the sewer"
4: run off as waste: "The water wastes back into the ocean"
[syn: {run off}]
5: get rid of; kill; "The mafia liquidated the informer" [syn:
{liquidate}, {knock off}, {do in}]
6: spend extravagantly; "waste not, want not" [syn: {consume},
{squander}, {ware}]
7: lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief; "After her
husband died, she just pined away" [syn: {pine away}, {languish}]
8: cause to grow thin or weak; "The treatment emaciated him"
[syn: {emaciate}, {macerate}]
9: devastate or ravage; "The enemy lay waste to the countryside
after the invasion" [syn: {lay waste to}, {devastate}, {desolate},
{ravage}]
10: waste away; "Political prisoners are wasting away in many
prisons all over the world" [syn: {rot}]