"wastes" in the noun sense
1. waste, waste material, waste matter, waste product
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"
2. waste, wastefulness, dissipation
useless or profitless activity using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly
"if the effort brings no compensating gain it is a waste"
"mindless dissipation of natural resources"
3. thriftlessness, waste, wastefulness
the trait of wasting resources
"a life characterized by thriftlessness and waste"
"the wastefulness of missed opportunities"
4. barren, waste, wasteland
an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation
"the barrens of central Africa"
"the trackless wastes of the desert"
5. waste, permissive waste
law) reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect
"wastes" in the verb sense
1. waste, blow, squander
spend thoughtlessly throw away
"He wasted his inheritance on his insincere friends"
"You squandered the opportunity to get and advanced degree"
2. waste
use inefficiently or inappropriately
"waste heat"
"waste a joke on an unappreciative audience"
3. waste
get rid of
"We waste the dirty water by channeling it into the sewer"
4. waste, run off
run off as waste
"The water wastes back into the ocean"
5. neutralize, neutralise, liquidate, waste, knock off, do in
get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing
"The mafia liquidated the informer"
"the double agent was neutralized"
6. consume, squander, waste, ware
spend extravagantly
"waste not, want not"
7. pine away, waste, languish
lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief
"After her husband died, she just pined away"
8. waste, emaciate, macerate
cause to grow thin or weak
"The treatment emaciated him"
9. lay waste to, waste, devastate, desolate, ravage, scourge
cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly
"The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion"
10. waste, rot
become physically weaker
"Political prisoners are wasting away in many prisons all over the world"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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