(a) To devastate (a land, town, etc.), lay waste; ppl. wastinge, laying waste; (b) to despoil (a region, tract of land, etc.) through the removal of resources.

(a) To remove something from a store; make expenditures; (b) to reduce by degrees a supply of (goods, money, etc.), deplete [often difficult to distinguish from sense 3.(a)]; spend (money); expend (wax, candles); also, use (oneself) up in battle; sacrifice (one’s life); refl. of a candle: expend itself;—used in fig. context; ~ awei; (c) to exhaust (strength, vitality, etc.); also, require the expenditure of (wisdom); (d) to pass (a period of time), spend; also, use up (time).

(a) To consume utterly (food, drink); (b) to burn up (sb. or sth.); also fig. and in fig. context; also [quot. ?a1425, 2nd], consume, burn something up;—used in fig. context; ~ awei (up); ppl. wastinge, burning; also, all-consuming;—used fig.

(a) To squander (goods, money, resources, etc.), use up needlessly or unprofitably; be profligate with (riches); also, cause the wasteful consumption of (goods) [quot. ?c1430]; use (weapons) to no effect [quot. a1470]; ppl. wastinge, profligate; (b) to employ or expend (intelligence, words, effort, etc.) vainly or wastefully; also, misplace (trust); (c) to spend (time, a lifetime, etc.) frivolously, misspend.

(a) To cause (sb., an animal, etc.) to waste away; also in fig. context; weaken (sb., a bodily member, etc.), enfeeble; also, overcome (a group of warriors, a nation, etc.); also, mortify (the flesh); ~ awei; ppl. wasted, enfeebled; also, emaciated; of the edges of a wound: shriveled [quot. c1475]; (b) to diminish the substance of (sth.) by gnawing, plucking apart, etc.; also, cause (the body) to decay; ~ awei; (c) med. to cause burning [quot. ?c1425, 3rd]; burn away (flesh, necrotic tissue, etc.); ~ awei; ppl. wastinge as adj.: caustic; (d) to erode (ground in a stream bed); of mildew: cause (sth.) to disintegrate; of rust: corrode (sth.);—used fig.

(a) To reduce (swelling, an inflammation, etc.); cause (redness) to fade; (b) to reduce (sth.) by boiling; boil away (water); also, vaporize (an element in a compound or mixture); also, absorb (moisture); ~ awei.

(a) To cause destruction [quot. ?c1450]; destroy (sth.), demolish; also fig.; cause destruction of (real property); also, break up (animal bones, joints, etc.); ~ oute, raze; ppl. wasted, destroyed; damaged; (b) to slaughter (sb., a group of people, living creatures, etc.), kill; do away with (sb., one’s foes, etc.); ~ awei; (c) ben wasted, to be spoiled or ruined; be turned into refuse, be discarded as useless; of a light: be extinguished;—used fig.; (d) break (a law), abrogate; disrupt (someone’s rest); thwart (a plan).

(a) To dispel (clouds, darkness, heat, etc.); fig. banish (misery, discord, etc.); also, reject (sinfulness, evil deeds, etc.), disavow; ~ awei; (b) to purge (bodily fluids, matter, etc.); wash away (blood);—used fig.; ?also, draw off or drain (sth.); ~ awei; (c) to do away with (sin or sins); also, avert (punishment).

(a) To promote digestion [quot. a1398, 3rd]; digest (food); absorb (blood, nutriment); also, break down (substances in the body), resorb; also, dissolve (a substance); ~ awei; (b) to disperse (sth.); scatter (enemies); also, disburse (money).

(a) To dissolve, decompose; be used up, consumed, or absorbed; also, be destroyed; ~ awei; ~ to careine and corrupcioun; ppl. wastinge, wearing out or giving out; also, subject to decay; (b) to boil off, vaporize; ~ awei; (c) to grow less intense, diminish, die away; ~ awei; ben wasted; ppl. wastinge as adj.: evanescent; (d) to grow weak or feeble, decline; also, grow thin [1st quot.; may be error for fasten v.(2)]; ~ awei; (e) to vanish, disappear; also, fade to nothing; ~ awei; (f) of time: to pass.

Ppl. wasted, mus. of a harp string: ?damped [may be error for or aberrant form of p.ppl. of fasten v.(1)].

In surnames.