waste

/ˈwāst/

Middle English waste, wast; in sense 1, from Anglo-French wast, from wast, gast, guast, adjective, desolate, waste, from Latin vastus; in other senses, from Middle English wasten to waste

noun

  1. a sparsely settled or barren region : desert

  2. uncultivated land

  3. a broad and empty expanse (as of water)

verb

  1. to lay waste; especially : to damage or destroy gradually and progressively

  2. to cause to shrink in physical bulk or strength : emaciate, enfeeble

  3. to wear away or diminish gradually : consume

ravage devastate waste sack pillage despoil mean to lay waste by plundering or destroying. ravage implies violent often cumulative depredation and destruction. devastate implies the complete ruin and desolation of a wide area.

adjective

  1. being wild and uninhabited : desolate

  2. arid, empty

  3. not cultivated : not, productive