Forms: 3–7 wast, 4–5 waast, 6, 8 waist, 6 wayste, 4–6 Sc. vast(e, 3– waste. [a. OF. wast(e, dial. variant of guast(e, gast(e, partly repr. L. vāstum, neut. of vāstus WASTE a. (q.v. for the phonology), partly a verbal noun f. waster (guaster, gaster) WASTE v. Cf. Pr. gast ravage, waste, Sp., Pg. gasto expense, It. guasto ravage, damage, injury.
In early ME. the word adopted from OF. took the place of the cognate native WESTE of the same meaning. In mod. Eng. the sb. in some senses may be f. WASTE v.]
I. Waste or desert land.
1. Uninhabited (or sparsely inhabited) and uncultivated country; a wild and desolate region, a desert, wilderness. Somewhat rhetorical.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 163. Ac seðen hie henen wenden, atlai þat lond unwend and bicam waste, and was roted oueral and swo bicam wildernesse.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3072. Þe barn sco [sc. Hagar] dide drinc o þat wel, In þat wast þan can þai duell.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xvii. (Martha), 21. In þat vaste scho fand a tovne, þat nov is callit Terrascone.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 3487. Þare many daies be dissert he dryfes with his ost,… Be wast & be wildirnes & be watirles bournes.
c. 1450. Erle of Tolous, 451. From them he wente into a waste.
1704. Pope, Windsor For., 80. But see, the man who spacious regions gave A waste for beasts, himself deny’d a grave.
a. 1718. Prior, Solomon, I. 279. North beyond Tartary’s extended Waste.
1807. Wordsw., White Doe, V. 1164. Among the wastes of Rylstone Fell.
1849. C. Brontë, Shirley, xxiii. The shadowless and trackless wastes of Zahara.
1854. J. S. C. Abbott, Napoleon (1855), II. xiii. 221. Napoleon was now … in an uncultivated country of almost boundless wastes.
1864. Tennyson, Aylmer’s F., 742. Is there no prophet but the voice that calls Doom upon kings, or in the waste ‘Repent’?
1871. Blackie, Four Phases, i. 46. Wandering about in a boggy waste.
1885. Athenæum, 23 May, 669/1. A sandy waste, which is scantily clad with herbage.
b. transf. Applied, e.g., to the ocean or other vast expanse of water (often waste of waters, watery waste), to land covered with snow, and to empty space or untenanted regions of the air.
1552. in Feuillerat, Revels Edw. VI. (1914), 89. A place caulled vastum vacuum .i. the great waste asmoche to saie as a place voyde or emptie withoute the worlde where is neither fier ayre water nor earth.
1655. Waller, Panegyr. Ld. Protector, 41. Lords of the Worlds great Waste, the Ocean, wee Whole Forrests send to Raigne upon the Sea.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 1045. Satan … in the emptier waste, resembling Air, Weighs his spread wings.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, VII. 310. From that dire Deluge, through the wat’ry Waste,… at last escap’d, to Latium we repair.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 309, ¶ 21. In Satan’s Voyage through the Chaos there are several Imaginary Persons described, as residing in that immense Waste of Matter.
1724. Ramsay, Vision, xviii. Millions of myles throch the wyld waste.
1727. De Foe, Syst. Magick, I. vi. 160. The utmost extent of the waste, or expanse of space.
1728. Pope, Dunc., III. 88. Where Mæotis sleeps, and hardly flows The freezing Tanais thro’ a waste of snows.
1757. Gray, Couplet about Birds, 2. The song-thrush there Scatters his loose notes in the waste of air.
1804. Moore, To Marchioness Dowager Donegall, 32. Those pure isles … Which bards of old, with kindly fancy, plac’d For happy spirits in th’Atlantic waste?
1804. W. L. Bowles, Spir. Discov., 308. Whose volcanic fires A thousand nations view, hung like the moon High in the middle waste of heaven.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., li. As these broad black raindrops mingle with the waste of waters.
1864. D. G. Mitchell, Sev. Stor., 257. A raft is floating upon an ocean waste.
1871. L. Stephen, Playgr. Eur. (1894), iii. 82. Showing their bare faces of precipitous rock across the dreary wastes of snow.
1892. M. Creighton, Hist. Ess., ix. (1902), 266. The waste of waters which spread on the east … was not sea-water.
1892. Lady F. Verney, Verney Mem., I. 198. The ‘great level’ round the isle of Ely … was a waste of water in winter.
c. fig.
1814. Scott, Lord of Isles, III. xvii. His soul a rock, his heart a waste.
1825. T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Man of Many Fr. (Colburn), 86. If she could at any time … have claimed the smallest spot in the ‘waste’ of George’s memory.
1836. J. H. Newman, Par. Serm., III. xiv. 221. The open inhospitable waste of this world.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, xxxvi. Miss Brass … opening the safe, brought from it a dreary waste of cold potatoes, looking as eatable as Stonehenge.
1901. Scotsman, 15 March, 7/4. There still stood between the House and its most urgent business a dreary waste of more than a hundred and twenty questions.
2. A piece of land not cultivated or used for any purpose, and producing little or no herbage or wood. In legal use spec. a piece of such land not in any man’s occupation, but lying common.
In some dialects the ordinary word; otherwise rare in colloquial use.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. Prol. 163. Vncoupled þei wenden Boþe in wareine & in waste where hem leue lyketh.
14[?]. Customs of Malton, in Engl. Misc. (Surtees), 58. It was graunted to the for sayd Burgeses a wast of ather syde of the town.
1423. Cov. Leet Bk., 46. The Prioures wast in Hasillwod.
1580. in Lancs. & Chesh. Wills (1884), I. 72. With th’ appurtenncs of and all and singular the said Mannors … moores, mosses, wasts [etc.].
1582. Durham Wills (Surtees, 1860), II. 54. My house I dwell in,… and the waist adjoyninge upon the same.
1600. Knaresb. Wills (Surtees), I. 222. One waist with two cottages thereupon builded.
1662. in Horsfield, Hist. Lewes (1824), I. 179. Times for the putting the tenants cattle into the common pastures, wastes, and commons of the manor.
1727. E. Laurence, Duty of Steward, 59. That they do not encroach upon the Lord’s Waste, by digging Stone, Sand, &c.
1786. J. Roberts, Life, 60. [He was] permitted to keep six or seven cows upon the waste.
1799. A. Young, View Agric. Lincoln, 147. At Leak and Wrangle there are some wastes, which the cottagers sometimes take in, and cultivate potatoes.
1820. Starkie, Rep. Cases N. P., II. 464. It was contended on his part, that the locus in quo belonged to Lady Smith in right of her manor, as being part of the wastes of that manor.
1828. Barnewall & Cresswell, Rep. K. B., VII. 305. It was contended, that as the adjoining land belonged to Roberts, the primâ facie presumption was that the waste between his land and the high road belonged also to him.
1864. Tennyson, North. Farmer, Old Style, vii. An’ I a’ stubb’d Thurnaby waäste. Ibid., x. Dubbut looök at the waäste; theer warn’t not feeäd for a cow; Nowt at all but bracken an’ fuzz. Ibid. (1864), Enoch Arden, 729. Behind, With one small gate that open’d on the waste, Flourish’d a little garden.
† 3. A devastated region. Obs.
1611. Bible, Isa. lxi. 4. They shall build the olde wastes, they shall raise vp the former desolations.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, X. 572. All the leafie Nation sinks at last; And Vulcan rides in Triumph o’re the Wast.
4. Coal-mining. A disused working; a part of a mine from which the coal has been extracted.
1695. Par. Reg. St. Andrew’s, Newc., in Brand, Hist. Newcastle (1789), II. 501, note. [Two men] were drowned in a coal-pitt … by the breaking in of water from an old waste.
1708. J. C., Compl. Collier (1845), 29. There is this and that Invention found out to draw out all great Old Waists, or Drowned Collieries.
1773. Ann. Reg., 151. The foul air in an old waste of a colliery … took fire, and breaking down the barrier … between the waste and the working pit, made the most terrible explosions.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 990. In collieries which … have goaves, creeps, or crushed wastes, the disengagement of the fire-damp from these recesses is much influenced by the state of atmospheric pressure.
1877. Encycl. Brit., VI. 64/2. The space from which the entire quantity of coal has been removed is known in different districts as the ‘goaf,’ ‘gob,’ or ‘waste.’
1911. Act 1 & 2 Geo. V., c. 50 § 52 (2) Props shall not be withdrawn from the waste or goaf … otherwise than by means of a safety contrivance.
transf. 1812. John Wilson, Agric. Renfrew., 26. The extent of excavation or waste, in these mines [the alum mines of Hurlet, Renfrews.] is about 11/2 mile in length, and the greatest breadth about 3/4 of a mile.
II. Action or process of wasting.
5. Useless expenditure or consumption, squandering (of money, goods, time, effort, etc.).
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 7725. Þulke festes he wolde holde so nobliche Wiþ so gret prute & wast & so richeliche Þat [etc.].
13[?]. Cursor M., 252 (Gött.). And till þaim speke i alþermast Þat ledis þair liues in mekil wast.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 7261. Rere sopers yn pryuyte, With glotonye, echone þey be; And þyr vs moche waste ynne, And gadryng of ouþer synne.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 15. Þouȝ þei hem self han neuere so muche wast of mete and drynk. Ibid., 60. For aȝenst cristis wilful pouert þei techen in dede worldly coueitise & moche wast in worldly goodis.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Pars. T., ¶ 813. Men oughten eschue fool largesse that men clepen wast.
1411–2. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 521. Now wold god þe waast of cloth & pryde Y-put were in exyl perpetuel.
c. 1450. Capgrave, Life St. Aug., xxxvii. 47. Grete wast was not in his hous of sotil metes.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 174 b. They consumeth superfluously & spendeth in waste, in one daye, the goodes that wolde suffyse & serve for theyr necessite many dayes.
c. 1532. Du Wes, Introd. Fr., in Palsgr., 905. Waste, prodigalité.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., I. ii. 160. Your Meanes is very slender, and your wast great. Ibid. (1601), Twel. N., III. i. 141. Clocke strikes. The clocke vpbraides me with the waste of time.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 218. They may not bury the corps in silke or needle-worke … for this were waste, and a worke of the Gentiles.
c. 1645. Milton, Sonn., xii. 14. For all this wast of wealth and loss of blood.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, X. 1295. Why these insulting Words, this waste of Breath, To Souls undaunted, and secure of Death?
1812. H. & J. Smith, Rej. Addr., IV. vi. Your debts mount high—ye plunge in deeper waste.
1851. Kingsley, Yeast, xiii. Everywhere waste? Waste of manure, waste of land, waste of muscle, waste of brain, waste of population—and we call ourselves the workshop of the world!
1853. Dickens, Bleak Ho., lvii. All this was done with the greatest despatch, and without the waste of a moment.
1879. Huxley, Sensation, Sci. & Cult. (1881), 246. The maxim that metaphysical inquiries are barren of result, and that the serious occupation of the mind with them is a mere waste of time and labour.
Proverb. 1546. [see HASTE sb. 6].
a. 1591. H. Smith, Serm., Reb. Jonah (1602), E 8. It is good that men looke before they leape, hast makes wast.
1641. Sanderson, Serm. ad Aulam, xiii. (1689), 550. But haste maketh waste, we say.
1736. [see WANT sb.2 3 Prov.].
1877. Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 347. Since there has been less haste there has been less waste.
b. Phrases, to make, † do waste, to be wasteful.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 139. I bidde noght that thou do wast, Bot hold largesce in his mesure.
c. 1480. Lyt. Childr. Lyt. Bk., 56, in Babees Bk., 20. Loke þou doo noo waste.
1481. Caxton, Godfrey, xciii. 144. Put they made grete waast & more than neded, & so by their oultrage & folye they lacked in short tyme.
1854. Patmore, Angel in Ho., Betrothal, 138. Long lease of his low mind befall The man who, in his wilful gust, Makes waste for one, to others all Discourteous, frigid, and unjust!
† c. (Words of) waste: useless talk. Obs.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 2547. Why fader … are yo so fer troublet At his wordys of waste, his wit febill?
1432–50. trans. Higden (Rolls), VII. 187. The erle perceyvynge that he hade spoken wordes of waste [se superflua dixisse].
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., ii. 134. Thou Iangyls waste.
† d. Wasted labor. Obs.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 2908. Thei armed hem with mochel haste; But sekirly it was but waste, For thei of Troye were mo than thai,… And sclow hem foule, when thei were met.
c. 1430. Syr Gener. (Roxb.), 6672. Folow noo ferthir, for it is waste.
† e. In waste, in vain, to no purpose. Obs.
1340–70. Alisaunder, 905. But all his werk was in waste.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xliv. (Lucy), 280. Bot al ves in wast þai wrocht.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 82. He spilleth many a word in wast That schal with such a poeple trete.
c. 1400. Beryn, 1232. Beryn … axid aftir clothis; but it was al in wast.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., I. iv. 21. He presupposith tho gouernauncis, vertues, and trouthis to be bifore knowen of tho same men, and ellis in waast he schulde so speke to tho men of hem not bifore knowen.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, VI. 916. Than Wallace said: ‘In waist is that trawaill.’
1513. Douglas, Æneis, V. viii. 24. Ther hardy Kempis all in waist let draw, Athir at vthir, mony rowtis gret.
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., IV. v. While my life shall last, For my friende Goodlucks sake ye shall not sende in wast.
1553. Brende, Q. Curtius, IX. Cc iij. Meethinkes I … go about in wast to stirre up your unwilling, and unmoveable mindes.
1556. T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtyer, Transl. Epist. A ij. Whatsoever I shoulde write therein, were but labour in waste.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 681. He thought to spende no lenger tyne in waste.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., III. x. 13. [She] Laught at his foolish labour spent in waste.
[1725. Watts, Logic, I. vi. § 3. So foolish and lavish are we, that too often we use some words in mere waste, and have no ideas for them.]
f. A profusion, lavish abundance of something.
1725. Pope, Odyss., VI. 356. And there the garden yields a waste of flow’rs.
1831. Scott, Ct. Robt., iii. Cooling the fragrant breeze which breathed from the flowers and shrubs, that were so disposed as to send a waste of sweets around.
1855. Tennyson, Brook, 191. Poor Philip, of all his lavish waste of words Remains the lean P. W. on his tomb.
g. An instance or example of wasting.
1612. Bacon, Ess., Of Dispatch (Arb.), 246. Prefaces, and passages, and excusations, and other speeches of reference to the person, are great wastes of time.
c. 1650. Higford, Instit. (1658), 6. Use Parsimony betimes before a wast be made, for Seneca tells you, Sera est in fundo Parsimonia. Ibid., 9. Riches may be well compared unto Cisternes or Pooles, which a small stream will easily fill, if there be no leaks or wasts, but small wasts and expences continuing, and not prevented, have decieved [sic], and undone many.
1658. Whole Duty of Man, viii. § 12. 187. This is a waste of that which is much more precious, our time.
1780. Mirror, No. 79, ¶ 1. But to win them by offices of kindness, or attach them by real services, they consider as a fruitless waste of time.
1867. Sir C. Dilke, in Life (1917), I. vii. 76. You think it a waste of money for me to contest Chelsea.
1909. Daily Chron., 4 March, 7/5. The economical woman … keeps a close watch for the small wastes that eat up more principal than the big purchases.
1920. Chesterton, Uses of Diversity, 54. He is somewhat anticlerical; which seems a waste of talent in a country where there is no clericalism.
6. Destruction or devastation caused by war, floods, conflagrations, etc. Now rare or Obs.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 433 b. He would doubtlesse haue made an horrible destruction and waste through oute all Germany.
1596. Edw. III., I. ii. 159. Like a cloake, doth hide From weathers Waste the vnder garnisht pride.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., III. iii. 18. What is it then to me, if impious Warre … Doe … all fell feats, Enlynckt to wast and desolation?
1601. Holland, Pliny, VI. xxix. I. 145. It was the Ægyptians warres and not the Romanes that gave the wast to Æthyopia. [L. Nec tamen arma Romana ibi solitudinem fecerunt.]
1657. Austen, Fruit Trees, Ep. Ded. There having been so great a wast and destruction of Wood.
1768–74. Tucker, Lt. Nat. (1834), II. 304. Were charity … to be the prevailing humour in the world, it would … turn industry into its proper channel, where it would not overflow to make waste and do mischief, nor be lost among the barren sands of whimsy.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xviii. IV. 223. In three years they had committed such waste on their native land as thirty years of English intelligence and industry would scarcely repair.
1864. Tennyson, Aylmer’s F., 640. When since had flood, fire, earthquake, thunder, wrought Such waste and havock as the idolatries Which [etc.].
† b. pl. Ravages. Obs.
1615. G. Sandys, Trav., IV. 242. This City doth welnigh ioyne to the skirts of Ætna…. The eiected flames haue heretofore committed horrible wasts.
1736. I. H. Browne, Pipe of Tobacco, i. 20. While Wastes of War deform the teeming Coast.
1738. Wesley, Psalms, CIV. vii. Pleas’d with the Work of thy own Hands, Thou dost the Wastes of Time repair.
† c. concr. Something wasted or destroyed. Obs.
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonn., xii. 10. Then of thy beauty do I question make That thou among the wastes of time must goe.
1640. Suckling, Discont. Col., III. (1642), E 4. Shal … This pretious Lovelinesse, Passe with other common things Among the wasts of time?
7. Law. ‘Any unauthorized act of a tenant for a freehold estate not of inheritance, or for any lesser interest, which tends to the destruction of the tenement, or otherwise to the injury of the inheritance’ (Pollock, Law of Torts, 1887, p. 285). Writ of waste (= AF. bref de wast), a writ commanding the sheriff to inhibit a tenant from an act of waste. † Year, day and waste: see YEAR 7 b. Impeachment of waste: see IMPEACHMENT 4 b.
For examples of AF. wast in this use see Rolls of Parlt., I. 9/1 (1278), II. 40/1 (1330), II. 170/2 (1347).
1414. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 60/2. Moreover, to enqueren what wast was made in the Kynges Maners, fro the tyme of Kyng John … into that day.
c. 1450. Godstow Reg., 317. Hit shold not be lawfull to the same sir william … to cast downe ony treys, noþere to make wast, sellyng or distroiyng, within the terme abouesaid, but for housebote.
c. 1475–80. in Oxf. Stud. Soc. & Legal Hist. (1914), IV. 225. In an accon of waste suyd … before the kinges Justices … for brennyng of a water Mill.
1503–4. Act 19 Hen. VII., c. 33. Preamble, The said Dame Cicile shuld not be therof impeched of Wast.
1544. trans. Litteton’s Tenures, vii. 15. In such case yf the lesse make wast, ye lessour shal haue agaynst hym a wryt of Wast.
1628. Coke, On Litt., I. 53. There be two kinds of Wasts, viz. Voluntarie or actuall, and permissiue.
1651. N. Bacon, Disc. Govt. Eng., II. i. 13. The King … leaves the noble Crown of England in the base condition of a Farme, subject to strip and waste by mean men; and crosses the Irish Seas with an Army.
1651. trans. Kitchin’s Jurisd. (1653), 331. If a house be uncovered by suddaine tempest, it is not waste, but if the Lessee suffer that to be uncovered, that the Timber rot, it is waste.
1770. Ann. Reg., 173. Having caused a man to be apprehended who had committed waste on the estate of the earl of Donnegal.
a. 1845. Polson, Law, in Encycl. Metrop., II. 828/1. The principal incidents to a tenancy in estate tail are, (1) the right of the tenant to commit what is called waste.
1863. H. Cox, Inst., II. viii. 500. Such injunctions include those against waste where a person having only a limited interest in an estate in his occupation, threatens to wastefully cut down timber, or otherwise injure the freehold.
fig. 1679. Owen, Christol., xvii. Wks. 1851, I. 216. Yet the inheritance is secured for us; and we are preserved from such offences against the supreme Lord, or committing such wastes, as should cost us out of our possession.
8. The consumption or using up of material, resources, time, etc. Obs. as distinct from 5.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 751. He had long maintayned the siege to no small wast and consumyng of his brothers treasure and riches.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lxii. § 10. Euill ministers of good things are as torches, a light to others, a wast to none but themselues only.
1605. Shaks., Lear, II. i. 102. ’Tis they haue put him on the old mans death, To haue th’ expence and wast of his Reuenues.
† b. The consumption (of candles, etc.) at a funeral or obit. Obs.
1477–9. Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905), 78. For the wast of ij tapres at Caustons obite, iiij d.
1506. in Glasscock, Rec. St. Michael’s, Bp.’s Stortford (1882), 31. Rec. of Thomas Whepyll for the waste of torches at his wife’s burieng, iiijd.
1555. Churchw. Acc. St. Helen’s, Abingdon (Nichols, 1797), 141. For wast of the paskall and for holye yoyle, 5s 10d.
1556–7. in Archæol. Jrnl. (1886), XLIII. 175. Paide to the chandler for waste of ye waxe, viijd.
9. Gradual loss or diminution from use, wear and tear, decay or natural process. Now somewhat rare.
1497. Naval Acc. Hen. VII. (1896), 300. Deliverances employmentes perusynges losse & wast of the Stuff takle Store & other the premisses.
1514–5. Act 6 Hen. VIII., c. 9 § 1. The Carder and Spynner to delyver agayn to the same clothier yerne of the same Wolle by the same … true … weight the wast therof exceptid.
1547. in Sir J. Williams, Accompte (Abbotsf. Club, 1836), 7. Allowaunce … for the waste of souche plate as was … delyuerde … vnto thofficers of his housholde to be daylye vsed.
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonn., ix. 11. But beauties waste hath in the world an end.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 218. Thinne Aire is better pierced; but Thicke Aire preserueth the Sound better from Wast.
1676. W. B., Touch-st. Gold & Silver Wares, 3. Silver is a Mineral … that will endure melting for a long time in extream heat, with but very little wast.
a. 1767. M. Bruce, Life & Wks. (1914), 182. Each would fondly raise Some lasting monument, to save his name Safe from the waste of years.
1791. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 9. Workmen … look upon the stone so coated, as not to be in a state of waste or decay.
1801. Farmer’s Mag., Nov., 422. An old venerable Cathedral still remains here, in defiance of the waste of time, and the rude hand of reformers.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, I. 272. The odour of all bodies that excite the sensation of smell cannot be given out without a waste of their substance.
1830. Lyell, Princ. Geol., I. 135. Rounded pebbles derived from the waste of … the older Apennine rocks.
1847. in Aiton, Dom. Econ. (1857), 339. The repairs now required are not mere ordinary repairs, but … rebuilding rendered necessary by the waste of time.
1877. Huxley, Physiogr., 168. Abundant evidence of marine waste may be seen on any visit to the seaside.
b. with reference to animal tissues and structures.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., VII. xliv. (1495), 257. Yf abhomynacyon comyth of fastynge and of waste of the body, men shall restore that whyche is wasted with meete and Electuaryes.
1691. Ray, Creation, II. (1692), 39. Which was most providently design’d to repair the wast that is daily made of them by the frequent Attrition in Mastication.
1695. New Light of Chirurg. put out, 15. Sudden Waste made upon Fat Persons by violent Fevers.
1725. N. Robinson, Th. Physick, 45. Thus far we have consider’d, how our Bodies acquire the Reparations for those Wastes, that are daily expended in carrying on the Laws of the Animal Oeconomy.
1796. Mme. D’Arblay, Camilla, V. 497. To repair the wastes of strength some time yet was necessary.
1814. Mrs. J. West, Alicia de Lacy, IV. 247. It was that oblivion of thought which best repairs the waste of nature, and gives elasticity to the weary faculties.
1841. Dickens, Barn. Rudge, vi. Reclining in an easy-chair before the fire, pale and weak from waste of blood, was Edward Chester.
1875. B. Stewart & Tait, Unseen Univ., § 59. Just as no single action of the body takes place without the waste of some muscular tissue, so, it is believed, no thought takes place without some waste of the brain.
c. A wasting of the body by disease; a consumption or decline. Now only dial.
1570. Levins, Manip., 203/25. Wayst of body, tabes.
1584. Cogan, Haven Health, lxxii. 71. Clarie … is found by experience verie good for the back, and restoratiue in a wast.
1601. Holland, Pliny, XVII. xxiv. I. 540. In a wast, consumption, or fever hecticke.
c. 1816. Mrs. Sherwood, Stories Ch. Catech., xix. 169. His disease was what the country people in England call a waste.
1878. Mrs. H. Wood, Pomeroy Abb., I. 49. Her mother went off in a waste.
1893. ‘L. Keith,’ ’Lisbeth, vii. Your father’s family going off one after the other in a waste, and nobody but me to see to them.
d. Phys. Geog. Material derived by mechanical and chemical erosion from the land, carried by streams to the sea. (W. Suppl., 1902.)
10. Phrases. a. To run to waste (rarely † to flow at waste): primarily of liquor, to flow away so as to be wasted; fig. of wealth, powers, etc., to be expended uselessly. b. To go to waste: to be wasted. c. † To grow to waste: Of a period of time, to approach its end. d. To cut to waste: lit. to cut (cloth) in a wasteful manner; fig. (? slang) to apportion (time) wastefully.
a. 1511. Guylforde’s Pilgr. (Camden), 22. Moche water renneth nowe to waste.
1624. Massinger, Parlt. Love, II. iii. Shall this nectar Run useless, then, to waste?
1641. Milton, Reas. Ch. Govt., II. 41. Like that which flows at wast from the pen of some vulgar Amorist.
1741. Watts, Improv. Mind, I. iii. This will secure the workings of your soul from running to waste, and … even your looser moments will turn to happy account.
1803. Lamb, Lett. to Coleridge, 20 March. You, like me,… reckon the lapse of time from the waste thereof, as boys let a cock run to waste.
1818. Byron, Ch. Har., IV. cxx. Alas! our young affections run to waste, Or water but the desert.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iii. I. 412. In an age of Scotists and Thomists even his intellect might have run to waste.
[1853. C. Brontë, Villette, viii. Beside a table, on which flared the remnant of a candle guttering to waste in the socket.]
1856. Sir B. Brodie, Psychol. Inq., II. v. 166. The faculties of the mind … run to waste if neglected.
1863. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., XXIV. II. 437. The sewage … ran to waste on the sea-shore.
1900. Jrnl. Soc. of Dyers, XVI. 12. The water … is run to waste.
b. a. 1500. Hist. K. Boccus & Sydracke (? 1510), G iij b. There goyth of it [sc. of the sea] to wast somdele As euery man may wyt wel.
1796. H. Hunter, trans. St.-Pierre’s Stud. Nat., II. 144. There is not a particle of vapour in the Universe that goes to waste.
1854. Poultry Chron., II. 42. We are importing ship-load after ship-load of guano … while hundreds of tons of poultry manure, which is ascertained to be equal in value, is suffered to go to waste in the United States.
1866. T. T. Stoddart, Angler’s Rambles, 365. Five-sixths at the least of salmon ova go directly to waste.
c. 1604. Shaks., Oth., IV. ii. 250. The night growes to wast.
d. 1863. Reade, Hard Cash, xxxix. He … said the Firm did not care to send its stuff to ladies not in the business; I might cut it to waste.
1863. Baily’s Mag., April, 153. An hour and a half had been ‘cut to waste,’ as the sporting reporters would say, and no tidings … had been received.
III. Waste matter, refuse.
11. Refuse matter; unserviceable material remaining over from any process of manufacture; the useless by-products of any industrial process; material or manufactured articles so damaged as to be useless or unsaleable.
c. 1430. Lybeaus Disc. (Cott.), 1471. For gore, and fen, and full wast, That was out ykast.
1764. in Sixth Rep. Dep. Kpr. Rec., App. II. 133. The Refuse or Waste used in the making of Allom, called Allom Slam.
1812. J. Smyth, Pract. Customs (1821), 323. The above Duty on Cotton Wool, or Waste of Cotton Wool,… is to be charged [etc.].
1827. Faraday, Chem. Manip., xix. (1842), 532. The object of the preceding directions is to enable the economical experimenter to cut up into useful forms, old glass, which would otherwise be thrown away as waste.
1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, II. 9. I may instance another thing in which the worth of what in many places is valueless refuse is exemplified, in the matter of ‘waste,’ as waste paper is always called in the trade.
1863. Technologist, III. 358. All the fibre and gluten wastes of the maize plant which are precipitated during the process of extracting the fibres, are used for manufacturing paper.
1864. Tennyson, Enoch Arden, 16. Three children … play’d Among the waste and lumber of the shore, Hard coils of cordage, swarthy fishing-nets, [etc.].
1902. Joanna E. Wood, Farden Ha’, xviii. The surrounding country (the aspect of which was scarred by pits, and distorted by black heaps of ‘waste’).
† b. fig. Offscourings, dregs, worthless people.
1592. Nashe, P. Penilesse, F 3. There is a certaine waste of the people for whome there is no vse, but warre.
c. = COTTON-waste.
1886. J. Barrowman, Sc. Mining Terms, 70. Waste, cotton refuse for cleaning machinery.
1909. Blackw. Mag., Sept., 315/2. The old order of Engineer Officer … was swaddled in ‘waste’ rather than sail-cloth, and smelt not of pitch but of warm oil.
d. Printing, etc. The surplus sheets of a work. See also quot. 1888.
1785. W. Tooke, in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden), 430. What is called in typographical language the waste of works printed at the Academy, is seldom or never preserved.
1841. Savage, Dict. Printing, 810.
1888. Jacobi, Printers’ Vocab., Waste, surplus sheets of a book beyond the plus copies. Also spoilt sheets used for running up colour on a machine, etc.
e. Coal-mining. (See quot.)
1883. Gresley, Gloss. Coal-mining, 278. Waste. 2. (North) very small coal or slack.
12. † a. An overflow of surplus water. Obs. b. A pipe, conduit, or other contrivance for carrying off waste matter or surplus water, steam, etc. Cf. waste-pipe.
1587. Fleming, Contn. Holinshed, III. 1312/1. Means is made, by a standard with one cocke at Holborne bridge to conueie the wast. Ibid., 1348/2. Vp vnto the northwest corner of Leaden hall … where the waste of the first maine pipe ran first this yeare.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 262. He went and washed his hands at the waste [Fr. russeau] of the well.
1707. Mortimer, Husb., 224. If ’tis made very sloaping on each side ’tis the better, leaving a waste to carry off your waste Water in times of Floods or Rains.
1877. S. S. Hellyer, Plumber, v. 47. If more than one basin is fixed upon the same waste, the size should be proportionately increased.
1892. Photogr. Ann., II. 48. Have the sink deep, as it can, by plugging the waste with a cock through which the glass tube passes, be utilised for washing purposes.
IV. Combinations.
13. Obvious combinations, as (sense 1) waste-dwelling adj.; (sense 5) waste-preventing adj., -preventor; (sense 11) waste collector, -dealer, -heap, -pit, -tip (TIP sb.5 4 b).
1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, II. 9. ‘I don’t know how it is, sir,’ said one *waste collector,… ‘but paper gets scarcer or else I am out of luck.’
1876. Mrs. G. L. Banks, Manchester Man, II. i. 4–5. Nadin … followed up the clue to a *waste-dealer’s who bought at his own price workpeople’s ‘waste’ (i.e., warp, weft, silk, &c., remaining after work was completed).
1882. W. Westall, Tales & Trad. Switzerland, 289. ‘A doctor! What for?’ interrupted the retired waste-dealer, puzzled in his turn.
1900. A. Lang, Hist. Scot., I. iv. 70. The elder gods may have been degraded to *waste-dwelling demons.
1873. B. Stewart, Conserv. Energy, v. 153. Universally diffused heat forms what we may call the great *waste-heap of the universe.
1915. Blackw. Mag., Nov., 702/2. Fosse Eight is a mighty waste-heap.
1906. R. A. S. Macalister, Bible Side-lights, 135. That it was a temple of some sort was indicated by religious emblems found within its precincts, and by a *waste-pit full of sheep-bones, apparently those of sacrificial victims.
1884. McLaren, Spinning, 173. With *waste-preventing machines much more progress has been made.
1884. Health Exhib. Catal., 94/1. New English Wash-out and noiseless *Waste-preventor Cistern.
1906. Victoria County Hist. Cornw., I. 520/2. The rock … is taken…, the useless to the *waste tip, and the good to the deposit floors.
14. Special combinations: waste-basket (now chiefly U.S.) = WASTE-PAPER basket; hence waste-basket v., to put in the waste-paper basket; waste-bin, a dustbin; waste-box Mining (see quot.); waste-cock, a cock to regulate the discharge of waste water; waste-drain, a drain for carrying off waste water; waste-gate, -hatch, a gate or hatch for regulating the outflow of waste water; waste-hole, a hole for the discharge of superfluous water; waste-inspector, a water-company’s or municipality’s official employed to report cases of waste of water; waste-man Mining, a man whose duty is to inspect the waste (sense 4), and to secure the proper ventilation of the mine; waste-pallet Organ-building, see PALLET sb.3 6; waste-pipe, a pipe to carry off waste water or steam; waste-sluice, a sluice for regulating the outflow of waste water; waste-spout, a spout for the issue of waste-water; waste-way U.S., a channel for the passage of waste water; waste-weir (see quots.); waste-yard ? Obs., ? a yard for the reception of odds and ends of little value.
1850. Lytton, My Novel, II. vi. Public men have such odd out-of-the-way letters that their *waste-baskets are never empty.
1868. ‘Holme Lee,’ B. Godfrey, lv. Basil tore the paper…, and thrust it into the waste-basket.
1913. Jean Webster, Daddy-Long-Legs, 35. If my letters bore you you can always toss them into the waste-basket.
1900. ‘Mark Twain,’ Man that corrupted, etc., 127. Indefinite testimonies might properly be *waste-basketed, since there is evidently no lack of definite ones procurable.
1915. Daily Tel., 14 Aug., 10/7. If all the scraps after meals … be carefully kept, instead of … put into the *waste-bin or burned.
1860. Engl. & For. Mining Gloss. (ed. 2), 66 (Newcastle) *Waste boxes, boxes in which the waste water of the pumping-pit is conveyed from the rings.
1844. H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 317. He is able … so to adjust the cock that the requisite supply shall go to the boiler, without entirely shutting the *waste-cock.
1833. Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 32. A large cock in the bottom of the receiving tank, communicating with the *waste drain.
1791. R. Mylne, 2nd Rep. Thames, 11. The *Waste and Buck Gates are quite ruinous.
1705. Act 4 & 5 Anne c. 8 (21) § 5. One Scuttle or small Hatch of a Foot Square in the *Waste Hatch or Water course in the direct Stream wherein no Water Wheel standeth [etc.].
1839. Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl., II. 436/1. The same adjustment may be made by stopping the pump, and letting out the water from the *waste-holes.
1898. Daily News, 17 June, 3/3. A turncock and *waste inspector, in the service of the Vauxhall Waterworks Company.
1812. J. Hodgson, in J. Raine, Mem. (1857), I. 96. The *waste-men or ventilators of the mine.
1825. E. Mackenzie, View Northumbld. (ed. 2), I. 90. Wastemen, persons that daily examine the state of the workings, and see that they are properly ventilated.
1891. Labour Commission, Gloss., Wastemen, generally old men who are employed in building pillars for the support of the roof in the waste, i.e. old workings and airways; and in keeping the airways open and in good order.
1881. C. A. Edwards, Organs, 44. The *waste-pallet is an arrangement corresponding to the safety valve in the steamboiler.
c. 1512. Archæologia, LVIII. 301. Boþe þe suspirel and þe waste pipe awoyde ther water in a gotir of breke.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 362/1. Aqua caduca,… water that runneth ouer, or at the waste pipes or spowts of condut heads.
1712. J. James, trans. Le Blond’s Gardening, 211. To empty the Bason entirely…, which is done by means of a Waste-Pipe at the Bottom of it.
1877. Huxley, Physiogr., 39. The steam which issues from the waste-pipe being cooled down by contact with the cold air.
1907. J. A. Hodges, Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6), 35. To connect the waste pipe with nearest drain or gutter.
1844. Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 327. As a *waste-sluice, the most convenient and simple, in a mill of this kind, is the trap-sluice.
1667. Flavel, Saint Indeed (1754), 19. Few words run then at the *waste spout.
1881. W. M. Thayer, Log-Cabin to White Ho., xii. 149. There was a *waste-way just ahead.
1884. Harper’s Mag., Sept., 621/2. Above these … is a wasteway … over which the surplus water can pour.
1793. R. Mylne, Rep. Thames, 23. There was Seven Inches of Water running over at the *Waste Weir at Boulter’s Old Lock.
1840. H. S. Tanner, Canals & Rail Roads U. S., 264. Waste weir, a water guage; a cut at the side of a canal by which the surplus water of canals is carried off.
1868. Chamb. Encycl., X. 516/2. There is also the waste-weir, for the purpose of preventing a reservoir embankment being overtopped by floods.
c. 1620. Moryson, Itin., IV. V. i. (1903), 460. Theire houses, (which haue no such *wastyardes about them as euery Farmers house hath with vs).
1826. Cobbett, Rur. Rides (1885), II. 182. And rick-yard, farm-yard, waste-yard, horse-paddock, and all round about, seemed to be swarming with fowls, ducks, and turkeys.
1854. Dickens, Hard T., I. xi. In the waste-yard outside [the mill], the steam from the escape pipe, the litter of barrels and old iron, the shining heaps of coals, the ashes everywhere, were shrouded in a veil of mist and rain.
