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A Writer's Dictionary:

run to waste Definition


Dictionary Home » Words Starting with R » rumination ... running knot » run to waste


waste
verb wasted, wasting
    1. To use or spend something purposelessly or extravagantly; to squander.
      Thesaurus: deplete, squander, exhaust, fritter away, drain, throw away, consume, dwindle.
    intr
    2. To be used to no, or little, purpose or effect.
    3. To fail to use, make the best of or take advantage of (an opportunity, etc).
    4. To throw away (something unused or uneaten, etc).
    5. To offer (advice or sympathy, etc) where it is unheeded or unappreciated.
    tr & intr
    6. To lose or cause someone to lose flesh or strength.
      Form: waste away (also)
    intr
    7. To be diminished, used up or impaired by degrees.
    tr & intr
    8. To wear out or tire, or become worn out or tired.
    (chiefly US)
    9. slang
      To attack, kill or murder someone.
    10. To treat something as waste material.
    11. old use
      To devastate (territory); to lay (an area) waste.
      Thesaurus: ravage, destroy, devastate, lay waste, ruin.
adj
    1. Rejected as useless, unneeded or excess to requirements.
      Thesaurus: discarded, worthless, valueless, useless, empty, dreary, futile, pointless, purposeless; Antonym: usable, preserved, valuable.
    2. Said of ground: lying unused, uninhabited or uncultivated.
      Thesaurus: desolate, barren, empty, uninhabited.
    3. physiol.
      Denoting material excreted from the body, usually in the urine or faeces.
noun
    1. The act or an instance of wasting, or the condition of being wasted.
    2. Failure to take advantage of something.
      Example: a waste of talent
      Thesaurus: misapplication, misuse, squandering.
    3. Material that is no longer needed in its present form and must be processed, eg household waste and nuclear waste.
    4. Refuse; rubbish.
      Thesaurus: refuse, debris, leavings, dregs, dross, offal, scrap, spoilage, garbage (US), rubbish, trash, litter.
    5. physiol.
      Matter excreted from the body.
    6. A devastated or barren region.
    7. A vast tract of uncultivated land or expanse of ocean, etc.
      Form: wastes (often)
Idiom: go to waste (run to waste)
    To be wasted.
Idiom: lay something waste
    To devastate it.
Etymology: 12c: from French wast.



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