The wasteful or excessive burning of candles; the practice of using candles carelessly or for unnecessary purposes.
Gerund form of 'candlewaste,' combining 'candle' and 'wasting.' Before electricity, this was considered genuinely wasteful behavior worthy of social criticism.
Candlewasting was serious business in pre-industrial households—burning candles unnecessarily in daylight was seen as morally wrong and economically foolish, so people were very intentional about when they lit candles!
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