From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Waste \Waste\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Wasted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Wasting}.] [OE. wasten, OF. waster, guaster, gaster, F.
g[^a]ter to spoil, L. vastare to devastate, to lay waste, fr.
vastus waste, desert, uncultivated, ravaged, vast, but
influenced by a kindred German word; cf. OHG. wuosten, G.
w["u]sten, AS. w[=e]stan. See {Waste}, a.]
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1. To bring to ruin; to devastate; to desolate; to destroy.
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Thou barren ground, whom winter's wrath hath wasted,
Art made a mirror to behold my plight. --Spenser.
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The Tiber
Insults our walls, and wastes our fruitful grounds.
--Dryden.
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2. To wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to diminish
by constant loss; to use up; to consume; to spend; to wear
out.
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Until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness.
--Num. xiv.
33.
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O, were I able
To waste it all myself, and leave ye none! --Milton.
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Here condemned
To waste eternal days in woe and pain. --Milton.
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Wasted by such a course of life, the infirmities of
age daily grew on him. --Robertson.
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3. To spend unnecessarily or carelessly; to employ
prodigally; to expend without valuable result; to apply to
useless purposes; to lavish vainly; to squander; to cause
to be lost; to destroy by scattering or injury.
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The younger son gathered all together, and . . .
wasted his substance with riotous living. --Luke xv.
13.
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Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air. --Gray.
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4. (Law) To damage, impair, or injure, as an estate,
voluntarily, or by suffering the buildings, fences, etc.,
to go to decay.
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Syn: To squander; dissipate; lavish; desolate.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Wasting \Wast"ing\, a.
Causing waste; also, undergoing waste; diminishing; as, a
wasting disease; a wasting fortune.
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{Wasting palsy} (Med.), progressive muscular atrophy. See
under {Progressive}.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
wasting
n 1: any general reduction in vitality and strength of body and
mind resulting from a debilitating chronic disease [syn:
{cachexia}, {cachexy}, {wasting}]
2: a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse
[syn: {atrophy}, {wasting}, {wasting away}]
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