waste noun
1 missing an opportunity to do/use sth
ADJ. absolute, complete, total, utter The whole thing has been a complete waste of time. | colossal, great, tremendous | awful, criminal, senseless, shocking, terrible a criminal waste of public money | needless, unnecessary, useless | tragic a tragic waste of human life | expensive | conspicuous
VERB + WASTE go to If nobody comes all this food will go to waste. | cause | avoid Try to avoid unnecessary waste. | cut down on, reduce | minimize
PREP. ~ of a waste of energy/resources
2 unwanted substances/things
ADJ. dangerous, harmful, hazardous, poisonous, toxic a dump containing hazardous waste | non-toxic | high-level, intermediate-level, low-level | recyclable | agricultural, commercial, industrial | domestic, household, kitchen All household waste should be disposed of in strong garbage bags. | clinical, hospital, medical | nuclear, radioactive | chemical | plastic | organic | animal, human | garden, plant | municipal | liquid, solid | food, energy
VERB + WASTE produce Tonnes of waste are produced every year. | dispose of, dump, get rid of More people are dumping waste illegally. | clean up the highly expensive task of cleaning up toxic waste | burn, incinerate an incinerator for burning hospital waste | bury, store | process, treat facilities for processing radioactive waste | recycle, reprocess | deal with, handle, manage the best solutions for managing waste | cut down on, reduce | eliminate | export, import Industrialized countries continue to export their waste.
WASTE + VERB contaminate sth, pollute sth areas contaminated by industrial waste
WASTE + NOUN collection | burial, disposal, incineration | storage | processing, recycling, reprocessing, treatment a waste reprocessing plant | management | minimization, reduction | bin | dump, site, tip The river was used for years as an industrial waste dump. | outlet, pipe | imports a ban on waste imports
3 wastes: areas of ground not lived in or cultivated
ADJ. frozen, icy the frozen wastes of Antarctica