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Definition of waste adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

waste

adjective
 
/weɪst/
 
/weɪst/
[usually before noun]Idioms
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    materials

  1. no longer needed for a particular process and therefore thrown away
    • the disposal of waste material
    • Waste water is pumped from the factory into a nearby river.
    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.
  2. land

  3. not suitable for building or growing things on and therefore not used synonym derelict
    • The car was found on a piece of waste ground.
  4. Word OriginMiddle English: from Old Northern French wast(e) (noun), waster (verb), based on Latin vastus ‘unoccupied, uncultivated’.
Idioms
lay something waste | lay waste (to) something
  1. (formal) to destroy a place completely
    • The invading army laid waste to towns and villages on their way to the capital.
    • an area laid waste by war
See waste in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee waste in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
trait
noun
 
 
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