How to Use waste in a Sentence

waste

1 of 3 noun
  • The current system causes a lot of waste.
  • We need to find ways to reduce unnecessary waste.
  • Any further investment would be a waste of valuable resources.
  • The city oversees waste disposal contracts.
  • These old computers are still useful. It seems like such a waste to throw them away.
  • That’s cute and all, but what a waste.
    — Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2025
  • No waste can at hand sink in kitchen area.
    — Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 26 Sep. 2025
  • This waste of a lunch set me back $20.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb. 2026
  • But what a waste of a great comic.
    — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026
  • What a shame, and waste of human life.
    — Jenna Sundel gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Seems like a waste of a comedic legend.
    — Glenn Garner, Deadline, 15 May 2026
  • Wu is well-versed in working with waste.
    — Kelly Meyerhofer, jsonline.com, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Bag up the weeds for curbside yard waste.
    — Lauren David, Martha Stewart, 18 Apr. 2026
  • There are proven, safe ways to handle this waste.
    — Alex Burton, Chicago Tribune, 28 June 2026
  • How much yard waste does the Claw remove?
    — Sarah Linn november 5, Sacbee.com, 5 Nov. 2025
  • For the past three years, the farm hasn't sent any waste to a landfill.
    — Heather Richardson, Travel + Leisure, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Trees taller than 6 feet must be cut in half and placed next to green waste cart.
    — Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Dec. 2023
  • Mining coal waste Do not let the name fool you.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 11 June 2026
  • Toss these out with the yard waste, along with weedy plants that are bearing seeds.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 11 Oct. 2025
  • This prevents food waste, and keeps your budget tight.
    — Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Remove and bag the old mulch and dispose of it with your yard waste.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 25 Feb. 2026
  • Here, two experts weigh in on what can go in the waste basket.
    — Tessa Cooper, The Spruce, 7 Feb. 2026
  • Home prices surged—and so did waste production.
    — Clara Molot, Vanity Fair, 30 May 2026
  • The area is marked by huge waste dumps made up of rock and earth that have been dug out of the mines.
    — Timothy H.j. Nerozzi Fox News, Fox News, 2 Dec. 2023
  • The result is markdowns and waste.
    — Fairchild Studio, Footwear News, 28 May 2026
  • Textile waste is a huge problem.
    — Sandra Barrera, Daily News, 20 Mar. 2026
  • Make small piles or rows throughout the lawn to collect in bins or yard waste bags.
    — Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 30 Oct. 2025
  • Turn them into a breakfast that jump-starts your day and cuts down on food waste.
    — Abby Norman, Verywell Health, 10 Sep. 2025
  • If the breading weren’t there, the sauce would just roll right off, and that’s waste of good sauce!
    — Josh Miller, Southern Living, 4 Oct. 2025
  • Homes are being built around the solid waste dump that opened more than three decades ago.
    — Michele Gile, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026

waste

2 of 3 verb
  • We can't afford to waste so much food.
  • I think he's just wasting my time.
  • Turn off the lights so we don't waste electricity.
  • Don't waste water during the summer drought.
  • He always wasted his money on useless gadgets.
  • We can't afford to waste this opportunity.
  • Bertolero is not one to waste time.
    — Steve Brand, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 June 2026
  • Don’t let your hard work go to waste.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Most teams would and should waste that time.
    — Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 12 Apr. 2026
  • Jensen didn’t waste time in his new role.
    — Kansas City Star, 20 Sep. 2025
  • Chia seeds can help move waste out of your colon.
    — Joy Emeh, Health, 5 Oct. 2025
  • Fiber can help push food and waste through the body.
    — Julie Marks, Verywell Health, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Don't waste time as these deals might not last long.
    — PC Magazine, 21 Oct. 2025
  • No one wants their time wasted.
    — Joe Moglia, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • No one likes wasting good cheese.
    — Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Close off rooms to avoid wasting heat.
    — Lillian Metzmeier, Louisville Courier Journal, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Zwick didn’t waste time making his way up.
    — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Make sure those fancy beans don't go to waste.
    — Brittany Loggins, Bon Appetit Magazine, 14 Oct. 2025
  • Gauff, though, was tired of wasting time with tweaks.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
  • Sales wastes time on bad leads, and the pipeline gets messy.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • The only self-check out that doesn't waste your time.
    — Kenny Malone, NPR, 13 Feb. 2026
  • One out of ten times, I got wasted.
    — Sarah Miller, New Yorker, 20 June 2026
  • The list is too long, though, for most to waste their precious time.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Aug. 2023
  • Serve over rice or couscous to make sure none of the sauce goes to waste.
    — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Don’t waste your time on anything that doesn’t thrill you or bring you love.
    — Brendan Le, PEOPLE, 5 Jan. 2026
  • Stop wasting it all and look for the future.
    — Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2026
  • Fix the part that wastes the most energy first.
    — Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 17 May 2026
  • Too bad the moment got wasted with such a clunky sketch.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 16 Mar. 2026
  • Big companies have the funds to waste on these projects.
    — Gene Marks, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
  • He’s wired to keep a day from being wasted.
    — C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 4 Apr. 2026

waste

3 of 3 adjective
  • Plastic’s core problem is not waste; it’s designed to be indestructible.
    — Vishal Vivek, Forbes.com, 6 Feb. 2026
  • In France, anti-waste laws require that most building waste is collected and processed.
    — Troy Aidan Sambajon, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Apr. 2025
  • The most accessible plank of the action plan for most residents is waste reduction.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 28 Mar. 2020
  • Luxuries such as a boiler, tanks for both fresh and waste water, a grill (stored in the van’s cargo hold), and portable camping chairs are part of the deal, too.
    — Alexander Stoklosa, Car and Driver, 13 Sep. 2017
  • Breakfast is served in the Heritage Room, and is never too copious, in line with the hotel's anti-waste policy.
    — Maddalena Fossati, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Feb. 2026
  • Its 2020 anti-waste law requires unsold nonfood goods to be reused, donated or recycled instead of destroyed.
    — ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026
  • That means waste heat, vented from cooling towers, losing 30 to 40 percent of the energy created by combustion.
    — David Roberts, Vox, 1 June 2018
  • Shards of glass and ceramic, rusted metal, medical and bio-waste, syringes, cracked circuit boards, and broken electronics protruded everywhere.
    — CNN Money, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Recycling and anti-waste advocates counter that regulators weakened the law with exemptions and carve-outs that could undermine its environmental goals.
    — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 1 June 2026
  • After being warned for taking more than the allotted 25 seconds between serves, Kyrgios mimicked how Nadal fidgets before a point, as if to remind the chair umpire that there are folks who more egregiously waste time.
    — Howard Fendrich, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Jan. 2020
  • Sowers did not waste time, impressing Kyle Shanahan, then the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator, in 2016.
    — Talya Minsberg, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2020
  • Local laws and supplier audits The OECD has called on Shein to publish further public information about its compliance with France’s anti-waste law (AGEC), which aims to move businesses toward greater circularity.
    — Meghan Hall, Sourcing Journal, 1 Oct. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'waste.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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