'Wasting' definitions:

Definition of 'wasting'

From: WordNet
noun
Any general reduction in vitality and strength of body and mind resulting from a debilitating chronic disease [syn: cachexia, cachexy, wasting]
noun
A decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse [syn: atrophy, wasting, wasting away]

Definition of 'Wasting'

From: GCIDE
  • Waste \Waste\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wasted; p. pr. & vb. n. Wasting.] [OE. wasten, OF. waster, guaster, gaster, F. g[^a]ter to spoil, L. vastare to devastate, to lay waste, fr. vastus waste, desert, uncultivated, ravaged, vast, but influenced by a kindred German word; cf. OHG. wuosten, G. w["u]sten, AS. w[=e]stan. See Waste, a.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. To bring to ruin; to devastate; to desolate; to destroy. [1913 Webster]
  • Thou barren ground, whom winter's wrath hath wasted, Art made a mirror to behold my plight. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • The Tiber Insults our walls, and wastes our fruitful grounds. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to diminish by constant loss; to use up; to consume; to spend; to wear out. [1913 Webster]
  • Until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness. --Num. xiv. 33. [1913 Webster]
  • O, were I able To waste it all myself, and leave ye none! --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • Here condemned To waste eternal days in woe and pain. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • Wasted by such a course of life, the infirmities of age daily grew on him. --Robertson. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To spend unnecessarily or carelessly; to employ prodigally; to expend without valuable result; to apply to useless purposes; to lavish vainly; to squander; to cause to be lost; to destroy by scattering or injury. [1913 Webster]
  • The younger son gathered all together, and . . . wasted his substance with riotous living. --Luke xv. 13. [1913 Webster]
  • Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. --Gray. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. (Law) To damage, impair, or injure, as an estate, voluntarily, or by suffering the buildings, fences, etc., to go to decay. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn: To squander; dissipate; lavish; desolate. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Wasting'

From: GCIDE
  • Wasting \Wast"ing\, a. Causing waste; also, undergoing waste; diminishing; as, a wasting disease; a wasting fortune. [1913 Webster]
  • Wasting palsy (Med.), progressive muscular atrophy. See under Progressive. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'wasting'

From: Moby Thesaurus