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.
Waste (?), v. i. 1. To be diminished; to lose bulk, substance,
strength, value, or the like, gradually; to be consumed; to dwindle; to
grow less.
The time wasteth night and day.
Chaucer.
The barrel of meal shall not waste.