- [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!
Homophones waist | wastewaist waste/weɪst//weɪst/- waist noun
- She wore a wide sash around her waist.
- waste verb
- You can't afford to waste time by waiting.
- waste noun
- Doing such a mundane job is a waste of your talent.
- waste adjective
- Waste products from the process can be made into fertilizer.
Extra Examples- If nobody comes all this food will go to waste.
- Try to avoid unnecessary waste.
- a tragic waste of human life
- a waste of energy/resources
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- absolute
- complete
- total
- …
- go to
- cause
- avoid
- …
- waste of
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- [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.
Extra Examples- a criminal waste of public money
- The whole thing has been a complete waste of time.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- absolute
- complete
- total
- …
- go to
- cause
- avoid
- …
- waste of
- [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.
Extra ExamplesTopics The environmentb1- Around four million tons of industrial waste are disposed of each year.
- the disposal of toxic/radioactive wastes
- the highly expensive task of cleaning up toxic waste
- Three quarters of all construction waste was recycled.
- the best solutions for managing waste
- technology to convert solid waste into renewable energy
- new regulations on the feeding of slaughterhouse waste to cattle
- facilities for processing radioactive waste
- areas contaminated by industrial waste
- an incinerator for burning hospital waste
- a waste processing plant
- a dump containing hazardous waste
- a ban on waste imports
- Tonnes of waste are produced every year.
- The river was used for years as an industrial waste dump.
- More people are dumping waste illegally.
- Industrialized countries continue to export their waste.
- A removable hatch allows access to the waste pipes.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- dangerous
- harmful
- hazardous
- …
- create
- generate
- produce
- …
- contaminate something
- pollute something
- collection
- disposal
- incineration
- …
- (also waste matter)[uncountable] solid or liquid material that the body gets rid of
- The farmers use both animal and human waste as fertilizer.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- dangerous
- harmful
- hazardous
- …
- create
- generate
- produce
- …
- contaminate something
- pollute something
- collection
- disposal
- incineration
- …
- wastes[plural] (formal) a large area of land where there are very few people, animals or plants
- the frozen wastes of Siberia
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- desert
- frozen
- icy
- …
not good use
materials
land
Idioms
See waste in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee waste in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englisha waste of space
- (informal) a person who is not useful or good at anything
- You are a pathetic waste of space!
Check pronunciation:
waste