To waste something is to use it carelessly or not use it at all, so that it is lost or not helpful.
“Waste” comes from Old French “waste,” meaning “desolate, empty, uncultivated,” from Latin “vastus,” meaning “empty, huge.” It shifted from describing empty land to describing lost or misused resources.
Every kind of waste—time, food, energy—tells a hidden story about what we don’t value enough to protect. The word can describe both trash in a bin and human potential that’s never used.
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