From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
waste
adj 1: located in a dismal or remote area; desolate; "a desert
island"; "a godforsaken wilderness crossroads"; "a wild
stretch of land"; "waste places" [syn: godforsaken,
waste, wild]
n 1: any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted;
"they collect the waste once a week"; "much of the waste
material is carried off in the sewers" [syn: waste,
waste material, waste matter, waste product]
2: useless or profitless activity; using or expending or
consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly; "if the effort brings
no compensating gain it is a waste"; "mindless dissipation of
natural resources" [syn: waste, wastefulness,
dissipation]
3: the trait of wasting resources; "a life characterized by
thriftlessness and waste"; "the wastefulness of missed
opportunities" [syn: thriftlessness, waste,
wastefulness]
4: an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation;
"the barrens of central Africa"; "the trackless wastes of the
desert" [syn: barren, waste, wasteland]
5: (law) reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or
neglect [syn: waste, permissive waste]
v 1: spend thoughtlessly; throw away; "He wasted his inheritance
on his insincere friends"; "You squandered the opportunity
to get and advanced degree" [syn: waste, blow,
squander] [ant: conserve, economise, economize,
husband]
2: use inefficiently or inappropriately; "waste heat"; "waste a
joke on an unappreciative audience"
3: get rid of; "We waste the dirty water by channeling it into
the sewer"
4: run off as waste; "The water wastes back into the ocean"
[syn: waste, run off]
5: get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing; "The
mafia liquidated the informer"; "the double agent was
neutralized" [syn: neutralize, neutralise, liquidate,
waste, knock off, do in]
6: spend extravagantly; "waste not, want not" [syn: consume,
squander, waste, ware]
7: lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief; "After her
husband died, she just pined away" [syn: pine away,
waste, languish]
8: cause to grow thin or weak; "The treatment emaciated him"
[syn: waste, emaciate, macerate]
9: cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly; "The enemy lay
waste to the countryside after the invasion" [syn: lay waste
to, waste, devastate, desolate, ravage, scourge]
10: become physically weaker; "Political prisoners are wasting
away in many prisons all over the world" [syn: waste,
rot]