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



    BrE BrE//weɪst//
    ; NAmE NAmE//weɪst//
    [usually before noun]
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  1. 1  not suitable for building or growing things on and therefore not used synonym derelict The car was found on a piece of waste ground.
  2. materials
  3. 2  no longer needed for a particular process and therefore thrown away waste plastic Waste water is pumped from the factory into a nearby river.
  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
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    (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 the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary entry: waste