Hypertext Webster Gateway: "wasting"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

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.]
1. To bring to ruin; to devastate; to desolate; to destroy.

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

The Tiber Insults our walls, and wastes our fruitful
grounds. --Dryden.

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

Until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness.
--Num. xiv.
33.

O, were I able To waste it all myself, and leave ye
none! --Milton.

Here condemned To waste eternal days in woe and
pain. --Milton.

Wasted by such a course of life, the infirmities of
age daily grew on him. --Robertson.

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.

The younger son gathered all together, and . . .
wasted his substance with riotous living. --Luke xv.
13.

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

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

Syn: To squander; dissipate; lavish; desolate.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Wasting \Wast"ing\, a.
Causing waste; also, undergoing waste; diminishing; as, a
wasting disease; a wasting fortune.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

wasting
n 1: any general reduction in vitality and strength of body and
mind resulting from a debilitating chronic disease [syn:
{cachexia}, {cachexy}]
2: a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse
[syn: {atrophy}, {wasting away}]


Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup

Enter word here:
Exact Approx


dict.stokkie.net
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents; see the Webster Gateway FAQ, and also the Back-end/database links and credits.