The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style. See Was. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Loss by use, decay, evaporation, leakage, or the like; waste. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value, or the like, gradually; to be consumed; to dwindle; to grow less; -- commonly used with away. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

The time wasteth night and day. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

The barrel of meal shall not waste. 1 Kings xvii. 14. [ 1913 Webster ]

But man dieth, and wasteth away. Job xiv. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Sporting) To procure or sustain a reduction of flesh; -- said of a jockey in preparation for a race, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. wast, OF. wast, from L. vastus, influenced by the kindred German word; cf. OHG. wuosti, G. wüst, OS. w&unr_;sti, D. woest, AS. wēste. Cf. Vast. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Desolate; devastated; stripped; bare; hence, dreary; dismal; gloomy; cheerless. [ 1913 Webster ]

The dismal situation waste and wild. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

His heart became appalled as he gazed forward into the waste darkness of futurity. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Lying unused; unproductive; worthless; valueless; refuse; rejected; as, waste land; waste paper. [ 1913 Webster ]

But his waste words returned to him in vain. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not a waste or needless sound,
Till we come to holier ground. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ill day which made this beauty waste. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Lost for want of occupiers or use; superfluous. [ 1913 Webster ]

And strangled with her waste fertility. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Waste gate, a gate by which the superfluous water of a reservoir, or the like, is discharged. --
Waste paper. See under Paper. --
Waste pipe, a pipe for carrying off waste, or superfluous, water or other fluids. Specifically: (a) (Steam Boilers) An escape pipe. See under Escape. (b) (Plumbing) The outlet pipe at the bottom of a bowl, tub, sink, or the like. --
Waste steam. (a) Steam which escapes the air. (b) Exhaust steam. --
Waste trap, a trap for a waste pipe, as of a sink. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Wasted; p. pr. & vb. n. Wasting. ] [ OE. wasten, OF. waster, guaster, gaster, F. gâter 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. wüsten, AS. wēstan. See Waste, a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To bring to ruin; to devastate; to desolate; to destroy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou barren ground, whom winter's wrath hath wasted,
Art made a mirror to behold my plight. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Tiber
Insults our walls, and wastes our fruitful grounds. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to diminish by constant loss; to use up; to consume; to spend; to wear out. [ 1913 Webster ]

Until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness. Num. xiv. 33. [ 1913 Webster ]

O, were I able
To waste it all myself, and leave ye none! Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here condemned
To waste eternal days in woe and pain. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wasted by such a course of life, the infirmities of age daily grew on him. Robertson. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The younger son gathered all together, and . . . wasted his substance with riotous living. Luke xv. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) To damage, impair, or injure, as an estate, voluntarily, or by suffering the buildings, fences, etc., to go to decay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To squander; dissipate; lavish; desolate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. waste; cf. the kindred AS. wēsten, OHG. wōstī, wuostī, G. wüste. See Waste, a. & v. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of wasting, or the state of being wasted; a squandering; needless destruction; useless consumption or expenditure; devastation; loss without equivalent gain; gradual loss or decrease, by use, wear, or decay; as, a waste of property, time, labor, words, etc. “Waste . . . of catel and of time.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

For all this waste of wealth loss of blood. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

He will never . . . in the way of waste, attempt us again. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Little wastes in great establishments, constantly occurring, may defeat the energies of a mighty capital. L. Beecher. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is wasted or desolate; a devastated, uncultivated, or wild country; a deserted region; an unoccupied or unemployed space; a dreary void; a desert; a wilderness. “The wastes of Nature.” Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

All the leafy nation sinks at last,
And Vulcan rides in triumph o'er the waste. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

The gloomy waste of waters which bears his name is his tomb and his monument. Bancroft. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is of no value; worthless remnants; refuse. Specifically: Remnants of cops, or other refuse resulting from the working of cotton, wool, hemp, and the like, used for wiping machinery, absorbing oil in the axle boxes of railway cars, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) Spoil, destruction, or injury, done to houses, woods, fences, lands, etc., by a tenant for life or for years, to the prejudice of the heir, or of him in reversion or remainder. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Waste is voluntary, as by pulling down buildings; or permissive, as by suffering them to fall for want of necessary repairs. Whatever does a lasting damage to the freehold is a waste. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Mining) Old or abandoned workings, whether left as vacant space or filled with refuse. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Phys. Geog.) Material derived by mechanical and chemical erosion from the land, carried by streams to the sea. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Syn. -- Prodigality; diminution; loss; dissipation; destruction; devastation; havoc; desolation; ravage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A basket used in offices, libraries, etc., as a receptacle for waste paper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) See Washboard, 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Com.) A book in which rough entries of transactions are made, previous to their being carried into the journal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Full of waste; destructive to property; ruinous; as, wasteful practices or negligence; wasteful expenses. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Expending, or tending to expend, property, or that which is valuable, in a needless or useless manner; lavish; prodigal; as, a wasteful person; a wasteful disposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Waste; desolate; unoccupied; untilled. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

In wilderness and wasteful desert strayed. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Lavish; profuse; prodigal; extravagant. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Waste"ful*ly, adv. -- Waste"ful*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]