Main Entry:

¹waste

Pronunciation:

\ˈwāst\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English waste, wast; in sense 1, from Anglo-French wast, from wast, gast, guast, adjective, desolate, waste, from Latin vastus; in other senses, from Middle English wasten to waste — more at vast

Date:

13th century

1 a: a sparsely settled or barren region : desert b: uncultivated land c: a broad and empty expanse (as of water)2: the act or an instance of wasting : the state of being wasted3 a: loss through breaking down of bodily tissue b: gradual loss or decrease by use, wear, or decay4 a: damaged, defective, or superfluous material produced by a manufacturing process: as (1): material rejected during a textile manufacturing process and used usually for wiping away dirt and oil <cotton waste> (2): scrap (3): an unwanted by-product of a manufacturing process, chemical laboratory, or nuclear reactor <toxic waste> <hazardous waste> <nuclear waste> b: refuse from places of human or animal habitation: as (1): garbage, rubbish (2): excrement —often used in plural (3): sewage c: material derived by mechanical and chemical weathering of the land and moved down sloping surfaces or carried by streams to the sea