waste

³waste

adj

Definition of WASTE

1

a (1) : being wild and uninhabited : desolate (2) : arid, empty b : not cultivated : not productive

2

: being in a ruined or devastated condition

3

[¹waste] a : discarded as worthless, defective, or of no use : refuse <waste material> b : excreted from or stored in inert form in a living body as a byproduct of vital activity <waste products>

4

[¹waste] : serving to conduct or hold refuse material <a waste barrel>; specifically : carrying off superfluous water <a waste drain>

5

: wasted 4

Examples of WASTE

1. <waste acreage that was not fit for anything>

Origin of WASTE

Middle English waste, wast, from Anglo-French wast

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to WASTE

Synonyms: bony (also boney), dead, desolate, hardscrabble, impoverished, infertile, poor, stark, unfertile, unproductive, barren

Antonyms: fertile, fruitful, lush, luxuriant, productive, rich

Related Words: bleak, inhospitable, lifeless; uncultivable, untillable; bankrupted, consumed, debilitated, depleted, diminished, drained, dried-up, enfeebled, exhausted, expended, lessened, reduced, spent, used up; arid, desert, droughty, dry, rainless, sere (also sear), thirsty, waterless; baked, dehydrated, parched, sunbaked

Near Antonyms: arable, tillable; green, sylvan, verdant

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Other Ecology Terms

Malthusian, anthropogenic, biomass, carbon footprint, crepuscular, niche, sere, symbiosis, taiga, tundra