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general::
verb ADV. (not) entirely, (not) totally In the end her efforts were not entirely wasted. | just, simply You're just wasting your breath. She never listens. | largely VERB + WASTE can't afford to, not want to He didn't want to waste valuable time in idle gossip. | be/seem a shame to It seems a shame to waste this good food. | not be going to I'm not going to waste any more time on the problem. PREP. on Don't waste your money on a hotel room. PHRASES no time to waste Hurry up?there's no time to waste!, noun missing an opportunity to do/use sth ADJ. absolute, complete, total, utter The whole thing has been a complete waste of time. | colossal, great, tremendous | awful, criminal, senseless, shocking, terrible a criminal waste of public money | needless, unnecessary, useless | tragic a tragic waste of human life | expensive | conspicuous VERB + WASTE go to If nobody comes all this food will go to waste. | cause | avoid Try to avoid unnecessary waste. | cut down on, reduce | minimize PREP. ~ of a waste of energy/resources unwanted substances/things ADJ. dangerous, harmful, hazardous, poisonous, toxic a dump containing hazardous waste | non-toxic | high-level, intermediate-level, low-level | recyclable | agricultural, commercial, industrial | domestic, household, kitchen All household waste should be disposed of in strong garbage bags. | clinical, hospital, medical | nuclear, radioactive | chemical | plastic | organic | animal, human | garden, plant | municipal | liquid, solid | food, energy VERB + WASTE produce Tonnes of waste are produced every year. | dispose of, dump, get rid of More people are dumping waste illegally. | clean up the highly expensive task of cleaning up toxic waste | burn, incinerate an incinerator for burning hospital waste | bury, store | process, treat facilities for processing radioactive waste | recycle, reprocess | deal with, handle, manage the best solutions for managing waste | cut down on, reduce | eliminate | export, import Industrialized countries continue to export their waste. WASTE + VERB contaminate sth, pollute sth areas contaminated by industrial waste WASTE + NOUN collection | burial, disposal, incineration | storage | processing, recycling, reprocessing, treatment a waste reprocessing plant | management | minimization, reduction | bin | dump, site, tip The river was used for years as an industrial waste dump. | outlet, pipe | imports a ban on waste imports wastes: areas of ground not lived in or cultivated ADJ. frozen, icy the frozen wastes of Antarctica
Oxford Collocations Dictionary