waste

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

(law) reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect

the trait of wasting resources

a life characterized by thriftlessness and waste

the wastefulness of missed opportunities

an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation

the barrens of central Africa

the trackless wastes of the desert

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

become physically weaker

Political prisoners are wasting away in many prisons all over the world

cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly

The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion

cause to grow thin or weak

The treatment emaciated him

lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief

After her husband died, she just pined away

spend extravagantly

waste not, want not

use inefficiently or inappropriately

waste heat

waste a joke on an unappreciative audience

get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing

The mafia liquidated the informer

the double agent was neutralized