Waste (?), a. [OE. wast, OF. wast, from L. vastus, influenced by the kindred German word; cf. OHG. wuosti, G. wüst, OS. w�sti, D. woest, AS. wēste. Cf. Vast.]
1. Desolate; devastated; stripped; bare; hence, dreary; dismal; gloomy; cheerless.
The dismal situation waste and wild. Milton.
His heart became appalled as he gazed forward into the waste darkness of futurity. Sir W. Scott.
2. Lying unused; unproductive; worthless; valueless; refuse; rejected; as, waste land; waste paper.
But his waste words returned to him in vain. Spenser.
Not a waste or needless sound,
Till we come to holier ground. Milton.
Ill day which made this beauty waste. Emerson.
3. Lost for want of occupiers or use; superfluous.
And strangled with her waste fertility. Milton.
Waste gate, a gate by which the superfluous water of a reservoir, or the like, is discharged. — Waste paper. See under Paper. — Waste pipe, a pipe for carrying off waste, or superfluous, water or other fluids. Specifically: (a) (Steam Boilers) An escape pipe. See under Escape. (b) (Plumbing) The outlet pipe at the bottom of a bowl, tub, sink, or the like. — Waste steam. (a) Steam which escapes the air. (b) Exhaust steam. — Waste trap, a trap for a waste pipe, as of a sink.