wastern.1
/ˈweɪstə/, U.S. /ˈweɪstər/ I. One who or something which wastes.
1. quasi-adjective.1596 in A. Macdonald & J. Dennistoun Misc. Maitland Club (1833) I. i. 82 The presbiterie findis Johne Graye to have callit sir Bartilmo Simsone, ane wastourfallo, commoun theve, [etc.].1728 A. Ramsay Last Speech Miser in Poems II. xiv But waster wives, the warst of a'.
a. One who lives in idleness and extravagance; one who wastefully dissipates or consumes his resources, an extravagant spender, a squanderer, spendthrift. Now chiefly dialect, with some notion of sense 6, a worthless person, ‘ne'er-do-well’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > worthlessness > worthless person > [noun]
ribalda1250
brethelingc1275
filec1300
waynouna1350
waster1352
lorel1362
losel1362
land-leaper1377
javelc1400
leftc1400
lorerc1400
shackerellc1420
brethel1440
never-thrift1440
ne'er-thrifta1450
never-thrivinga1450
nebulona1475
breelc1485
naughty pack?1534
brathel1542
unsel155.
pelf1551
wandrel?1567
land-loper1570
scald1575
baggage1594
arrant1605
good-for-nothing1611
hilding1611
vauneant1621
idle-pack1624
thimble-maker1654
never-do-well1664
ne'er-be-good1675
shack1682
vagabond1686
shag-bag1699
houndsfoot1710
blackguard1732
ne'er-do-well1737
trumpery1738
rap1742
good-for-naught1773
rip1781
mauvais sujet1793
scamp1808
waffie1808
loose fish1809
ne'er-do-good1814
hard bargain1818
vaurien1829
sculpin1834
shicer1846
wastrel1847
scallywag1848
shack-bag1855
beat1865
rodney1877
git1939
no-hoper1944
piss artist1962
the mind > possession > relinquishing > squandering or prodigality > [noun] > squanderer or prodigal
waster1352
spender1393
fool-large?c1425
neve1440
stroyc1440
strawer1460
scapethrifta1500
prodigal son (also daughter, child)1508
nephew1532
scatterer1535
stroy-good1540
prodigal1547
spend-all1553
dingthrift1566
stroy-all1573
scattergood1577
slip-thrift1579
waste-good1585
slide-thrifta1591
spendthrift1601
unthrifta1602
prodiga1605
spend-good1605
wastethrift1608
prodigal1609
lavisher1611
squanderer1611
decoctor1615
profuser1616
extravagant1745
dissipater1799
wastrel1887
squander-bug1943
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [noun] > worthlessness > good-for-nothing person
brethelingc1275
filec1300
dogc1330
ribald1340
waynouna1350
waster1352
lorel1362
losel1362
land-leaper1377
triflera1382
brothelc1390
javelc1400
leftc1400
lorerc1400
shackerellc1420
brethel1440
never-thrift1440
vagrant1444
ne'er-thrifta1450
never-thrivinga1450
nebulona1475
breelc1485
naughty pack?1534
brathel1542
carrion1547
slim1548
unsel155.
pelf1551
shifterc1562
rag1566
wandrel?1567
land-loper1570
nothing-worth1580
baggage1594
roly-poly1602
bash-rag1603
arrant1605
ragabash?1609
flabergullion1611
hilding1611
hard bargain1612
slubberdegullion1612
vauneant1621
knick-knacker1622
idle-pack1624
slabberdegullion1653
thimble-maker1654
whiffler1659
never-do-well1664
good-for-nought1671
ne'er-be-good1675
shack1682
vagabond1686
shabaroon1699
shag-bag1699
houndsfoot1710
ne'er-do-well1737
trumpery1738
rap1742
hallion1789
scamp1808
waffie1808
ne'er-do-good1814
vaurien1829
sculpin1834
shicer1846
good-for-nothing1847
wastrel1847
scallywag1848
shack-bag1855
beat1865
toe-rag1875
rodney1877
toe-ragger1896
low-lifer1902
punk1904
lowlife1909
ringtail1916
git1939
no-hoper1944
schlub1950
piss artist1962
dead leg1964
1352 Winner & Waster 194 ‘Ȝee wynnere’, quod wastoure, ‘thi wordes are vayne: With oure festes and oure fare we feden the pore.’
1352 Winner & Waster 390 Who so wele schal wyn, a wastour moste he fynde, For if it greues one gome it gladdes anoþer.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. Prol. 22 Summe..In Eringe and in Sowynge swonken ful harde, Þat monie of þeos wasturs In Glotonye distruen.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. v. 24 He bad wastors go worche what þei best couþe, And wynne þat þei wasteden with sum maner craft.
1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Rolls) VII. 445 Þe Kyng was a ravener in gaderynge and a greet wastour in spendynge.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 162 Bachus..A wastour was, and al his rente In wyn and bordel he despente.
?1472 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 362 Which..shuld cause..your frendes to thynk..þat ye shuld be a wastour and wuld wast your lyvelode.
1508 J. Stanbridge Vulgaria (W. de W.) C iij b He is a waster. Profusus est pecunie.
1597 in J. Stuart Misc. Spalding Club (1841) I. 177 The said Walter did never strik his wyff, nather yit onis fund fault with hir,..althocht scho wes ane westour.
a1598 D. Fergusson Sc. Prov. (1641) sig. Dv It is weill warit that wasters want geir.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 94 Prodigall ding~thrifts and wasters.
1631 F. Lenton Characterismi sig. G7 A Good Husband... He is the sole happinesse of a good wife, and the torment of a Waster.
a1697 J. Aubrey Brief Lives: Hobbes (1898) I. 347 His lord, who was a waster, sent him up and downe to borrow money.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela IV. lvii. 369 This would..instruct him..to avoid being a Squanderer or Waster.
1775 J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 407 He who will not work, must..leave the town, as they will not sweat themselves for an healthy idle waster.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian iii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. III. 69 Ye will think I am turned waster, for I wear clean hose and shoon every day.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. Waster,..a wasteful person.
1887 J. W. Matthews Incwadi Yami ii. 20 The class of wasters which public grumbling bred and fostered.
1897 R. S. S. Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign i. 20 A mining population of whites and blacks and ‘wasters’,..‘Wasters?’—oh, it's a South African word, and most expressive; applies to the specious loafer who is so common in this country.
1904 J. Sweeney At Scotland Yard viii. 203 Here was a wretched invertebrate fellow, an absolute ‘waster’.
b. One who wastefully dissipates or consumes (something specified; in early use money, resources). Const. of.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > squandering or prodigality > [noun] > squanderer or prodigal > of something specified
wasterc1380
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [noun] > waste > one who wastes
wasterc1380
spendthrifta1616
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 200 & ȝif men..wolden fayn paie, & traueile bisily þerfore in treuþe, & ben not wastouris of here litil good.
c1386 G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale 291 Men moste enquere..Wher she be wys..or wastour of thy good.
1422 J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 131 He is a wastoure of his goodes, and destrueth his roialme whate he may.
1549 J. Cheke Hurt of Sedicion sig. E5v But what is a loyterer, a sucker of honye, a spoyler of corne, a destroyer of fruite? Naye a waster of money, [etc.].
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 73 A man of an yll lyfe and an inordinate waster of the goodes of the Church.
1611 B. Jonson Catiline i. sig. B3 Diuers Roman Knights (The profuse wasters of their patrimonies). View more context for this quotation
1701 W. Penn in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1870) IX. 72 Learn who have been the wasters of timber.
1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 81 This waster of ink, this defiler of paper.
1842 J. Wilson Christopher North (1857) II. 18 No waster was she of her tears, or her smiles.
1883 American 7 6 But the good sense of the majority soon suppressed these wasters of time.
c. An action or habit that causes waste.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [noun] > waste > action that causes
wastera1633
a1633 G. Herbert Outlandish Prov. (1640) sig. A2v Building and marrying of Children are great wasters.
1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. xii. 69 Gaming, that great waster of time, as well as fortune, is not his vice.
2. † b. One who or something which destroys. Const. of, to. Obsolete. rare.proverbial.1672 W. Walker Paroemiologia Anglo-Lat. 27 Water is a waster. Aqua dentes habet.
a. One who lays waste, despoils or plunders; a devastator, ravager, plunderer.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > devastation or desolation > one who or that which
wastera1382
harrowerc1450
harrier1596
desolation1608
ravager1611
dispeopler1616
depopulator1623
desolatora1638
vastator1659
havocker1680
devaster1789
devastator1818
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xvi. 4 Moab, be thou the lurkyng place of hem fro the face of the wastere [L. a facie vastatoris].
a1400–50 Wars Alex. 5310 Þe werreour of all þe werd & wastoure of ynde.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 518/1 Wastowre, of a place, dilapidator.
1544 R. Tracy Supplycacion to Kynge Henry VIII sig. Cij Truly no lytle wasters, spoylers, and robbers, and that of the most poore.
1575 T. Vautrollier tr. M. Luther Comm. Epist. to Galathians ii. 9 Of a persecuter and waster of the Church, he was made an Apostle.
1583 G. Babington Very Fruitfull Expos. Commaundem. viii. 361 It cannot bee, that our heartes shoulde bee right in affections towards our brethren, and wee spoylers and wasters, or anie way harmers of the commodities which they inioy.
1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) cxxxvii. xi The Lord shall all thy Pow'r o'erthrow And lay the mighty Waster waste.
1817 W. Scott Harold i. ix. 19 Witikind the Waster.
1868 W. Morris Earthly Paradise ii. 649 And press around each new-come man to learn If Harfleur now the pagan wasters burn.
1879 S. H. Butcher & A. Lang tr. Homer Odyssey 115 Odysseus..the waster of cities.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > one who or that which destroys
baneOE
losera1340
leeserc1380
stroyerc1380
destroyer1382
ravenerc1390
castera1400
confounder1401
wastera1425
stroyc1440
undoerc1440
unmakerc1450
confounderess1509
hydraa1513
stroy-good1540
abolisher1548
thunderbolt1559
disannullera1572
stroy-all1573
ruiner1581
down-puller1583
murdererc1585
spendingc1595
blaster1598
assassin1609
ruinater1609
dissolver1611
minerc1614
destructioner1621
fordoer1631
sinker1632
destructive1640
deletery1642
assassinatea1658
ruinator1658
destroyeress1662
destructora1691
dissolvent1835
solvent1841
wrecker1882
destructant1889
a1425 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Galba) l. 27983 Þis licheri es..waster of man-kin.
c1480 (a1400) St. Mary of Egypt 791 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 319 Þu art..confowrt of wrech, waster of syn.
1645 H. Hammond Of Conscience (new ed.) §67 That onely sinne continued in for any long time,..was a farre greater waster to Conscience.
3.
a. The designation of a class of thieves mentioned along with ‘Roberdesmen’ and ‘Drawlatches’ in a statute of Edw. III. Obsolete exc. archaic.The occurrence of the word in the Anglo-Norman statute of 1331 is no proof that it was current in English at that date. All subsequent examples merely echo the statute.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > company of thieves > specifically in fourteenth century
waster1331
1331 Statutes Realm 1.268 Diverses roberies, homicides, & felonies ont este faitz..par gentz qi sont appellez Roberdesmen, Wastours, & Draghlacche.
1543 tr. Act 5 Edw. III c. 14 Bycause there hath ben dyuers manslaughters, felonies, and roberies done in tymes past, by people that be called Roberdesmen, wastes [sic], and Drawlaches.
1581 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha i. xix. 186 Drawlatches, Wastours, or Robertsmen, that is to say, either myching or mightie theeues.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Wastors, a kind of Thieves, or Robbers anciently known by that Name.
1890 A. Conan Doyle White Company iv It shall never be said whilst I am Bailiff of Southampton, that any waster, riever, drawlatch or murtherer came scathless away from me and my posse.
b. Misused to render Anglo-Norman westour in a statute relating to Wales. Obsolete. rare.The Anglo-Norman word represents Welsh gwestwr ( < gwest lodging, hospitality + gwr man), a vagrant who went about exacting free board and lodging.
ΚΠ
1543 tr. Act 4 Hen. IV c. 27 Mischieues, whiche hath happened before this tyme in ye land at wales, by many wasters, rymours, mynstrels, and other vacabondes [Fr. Westours, Rymours, Ministralx & autres vacabondes].
4.
a. An animal that is wasting away or losing flesh, or that will not fatten. Also attributive as †waster ox.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > [noun] > sick or injured animal
waster14..
piner1882
symmelian1894
14.. in Walter of Henley's Husb. (1890) 51 Þe feble ox costithe as moche and more þen þe beste ox for yeff he be a wayster ox he moste be þe more spared.
1614 G. Markham Cheape & Good Husbandry ii. [ii.] i. 45 Which [healthfulness of an ox] you shall know by a good taile and a good pyzel, for if the haire..be lost, then hee is a waster and will be long in feeding [for the butcher].
1689 J. Chetham Angler's Vade Mecum (ed. 2) xli. 308 A lean, slender Pike, though he seem to advance in length; yet is commonly a waster, and in a decaying condition;..yet he'll live and be as hungry and greedy as ever.
1895 W. Rye Gloss. Words E. Anglia Waster, a rabbit or other animal that looks like a dier, wasting away.
1907 Daily Chron. 13 Sept. 6/7 In an adjoining shed there was a ‘waster’ [i.e. a cow affected with tuberculosis], which was so ill that it could not stand up.
b. a bad waster: said of a jockey who has difficulty in ‘wasting’ (see waste v. 11c).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > people involved in horse racing > [noun] > rider > types of
feather1760
lightweight1773
welter1804
steeple hunter1830
a bad waster1833
steeplechaser1837
heavyweight1857
stoner1862
roper1870
point-to-pointer1929
jumping jockey1947
jump jockey1970
1833 Q. Rev. 49 399 He is a bad waster, and is much punished to bring himself to the three-year-old weights.
1849 Bentley's Misc. 31 581 Some men are bad wasters, when nothing but very severe exercise, aided by medicine,..suffices to get off the last twenty-four ounces.
5.
a. Something which causes or allows waste or loss of material.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [noun] > loss of material > cause of
waster1842
1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 142/1 [Sluices] also act as wasters, to allow the surplus water of a reservoir to escape.
1880 C. H. Spurgeon John Ploughman's Pictures 135 A leaking tap is a great waster.
b. A foreign body in the wick of a candle which causes it to gutter and waste. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > candle > [noun] > guttering > cause of
waster1788
1788 G. Wilson Coll. Masonic Songs 72 (Jam.) Oft on the wick there hangs a waster, Which makes the candle burn the faster.
1877 F. Ross et al. Gloss. Words Holderness Wasther, a thief in the candle.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Waster.
c. Pathology. = comedo n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > eruption > [noun] > comedo
comedo1730
worm1730
blackhead1837
whitehead1886
waster1899
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 752 It is also known as grub, worm, black-head, or ‘waster’.
II. Something regarded as waste material.
6. Something rejected as waste.
a. An article of faulty or inferior manufacture.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior thing > [noun]
poornessa1382
chaffc1386
cold roast?1406
arse-guta1413
short end1560
under-kind1571
inferior1589
canvas-back1605
underthing1620
under-sort1655
wasteling1750
slouch1767
shamea1771
neck beefa1777
rep1786
wastrel1790
wastera1800
shoddy1862
piece1884
tinhorn1887
robbo1897
cheapie1898
buckeye1906
reach-me-down1916
dog1917
stinkeroo1934
bodgie1964
cheapo1975
society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > low quality goods
brayed ware1603
breathed ware1640
mattress1685
third1768
wastera1800
imperfects1862
fifths1881
cheaps1930
irregular1940
borax1942
tat1951
braided wares-
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [noun] > that which is imperfect
wind-egg1398
rib-roast1654
wastera1800
semi-form1836
spoil1892
square wheels1924
a1800 S. Pegge Suppl. Grose's Provinc. Gloss. (1814) Wasters, damaged or misshapen goods. North.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Waster, any thing among wares that is damaged or of inferior workmanship.
1829 J. Hunter Hallamshire Gloss. Waisters, articles of cutlery laid aside on account of any imperfection.
1833 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal II. 360 The former [i.e. needles with broken eyes]..are thrown aside as wasters.
1846 W. Greener Sci. Gunnery (new ed.) 135 A great number of barrels declared ‘wasters’, such as..having holes in the sides, or some other fault sufficient to condemn them in the eyes of a..barrel-maker.
1869 F. Kohn Iron & Steel Manuf. 106 If cast in a fireclay mould, the contraction was still irregular, and 10 per cent. of all tyre castings were ‘wasters’.
1878 L. Jewitt Ceramic Art I. iv. 76 A kiln..in and around the remains of which were many vessels—‘wasters’ as they would be technically called—of various kinds.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) II. 177/2 Such lenses, together with those that possess..other defects, are technically called ‘wasters’.
1880 P. W. Flower Hist. Trade in Tin xiii. 173 Some of the sheets thus thrown out are called menders.., others are called wasters, for which there is always a market at a reduction in price; the worst are called waster waste.
1892 Athenæum 30 Apr. 577/1 A pottery, worked at however distant a period, leaves traces of coccj and ‘wasters’.
1900 Bath Herald 15 Sept. Galvanized Corrugated Iron, for Roofing, best quality only, no wasters.
1928 W. B. Honey Old Eng. Porcelain i. 15 Nothing short of an undoubted ‘waster’ can prove conclusively that a particular type was made on the factory site in question.
1950 D. T.-D. Clarke Roman Pottery Kiln 4 Pots of similar grey ware have been found at Market Overton..which are undoubtedly wasters.
1961 M. Kelly Spoilt Kill ii. 81 Pots that were twisted, shrunken and collapsed... Wasters, they called them.
1974 Canad. Antiques Collector Sept.–Oct. 27/2 There are remains of many little potteries scattered all over southern Ontario, and mounds of ‘wasters’ or broken or discarded ware.
b. An animal, bird, etc., which is not good enough to be kept for breeding purposes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > livestock > stock or breed > animals kept for breeding > not good enough for breeding
wastera1722
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 405 A young sow,..having as many as nine pigs, it could not be expected any of them would be so properly fat for wasters, as if she had brought but four or five.
1904 Nature 25 Aug. 408/2 But now let him breed from his ‘wasters’ and he will find that the extracted blacks are pure and give blacks only.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† wastern.2
Obsolete.attributive.c1600 Club Law (1907) iv. i. 67 To night is holy daye, and there will be waster play.
1. A wooden sword or a foil used in sword-exercise and fencing.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > fencing > [noun] > foil
waster1455
foil1594
hilt1609
blunt1611
fleureta1648
foin1655
small sword1679
back-sword1747
flamberg1885
épée1889
sabre1910
wafter-
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > fencing > fencing or exercise with sticks or cudgels > [noun] > stick
waster1455
hilt1609
sworda1648
lath sword1697
tickler1765
sword of lath1819
basket-stick1833
single-stick1837
1455 in Meyrick Ant. Armour (1824) II. 144 Furst viij swerds and a long blade of a swerde made in wafters [read wasters]..for to lerne the king to play in his tendre age.
1541 in Hist. MSS Comm.: MSS Duke of Rutland (1905) IV. 313 in Parl. Papers (Cd. 2606) LXIII. 301 For Bryngyng..of hiltes for the crosse wasters for my Lorde Roose, iiij d.
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer i. sig. E.iiiv Yf goyng about to cast a darte, or houldyng in hys hand a sworde or any other waster.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xl. vi. 1063 Foule worke they made with their wodden wasters and headlesse pikes.
1606 Bp. J. Hall Heauen vpon Earth xi. 80 Euen with wooden wasters we learn to play at the sharp.
a1661 B. Holyday tr. Juvenal Satyres (1673) 111 The fencer's staffe or waster..was call'd rudis (as some think) because with such cudgels they practiz'd the rudiments of fencing, before they came in publick to fight at sharp.
2. A cudgel, staff, club.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun]
sowelc893
treec893
cudgelc897
stinga900
bat?c1225
sticka1275
clubc1275
truncheon14..
bourdonc1325
bastona1400
warderera1400
plantc1400
kibble1411
playloomc1440
hurlbatc1450
ploykc1450
rung1491
libberlac1500
waster1533
batonc1550
macana1555
libbet1562
bastinado1574
crab-tree comb1593
tomahawkc1612
billeta1616
wiper1622
batoon1637
gibbeta1640
crab-bat1647
kibbo1688
Indian club1694
batterdasher1696
crab-stick1703
bloodwipea1705
bludgeon1730
kierie1731
oaken towel1739
crab1740
shillelagh1772
knobstick1783
pogamogganc1788
whirlbat1791
nulla-nulla1798
waddy1800
kevel1807
supple1815
mere1820
hurlet1825
knobkerrie1826
blackthorn1829
bastera1833
twig1842
leangle1845
alpeen1847
banger1849
billy1856
thwack-stave1857
clump1868
cosh1869
nulla1878
sap1899
waddy1899
blunt instrument1923
1533 J. Heywood Mery Play Iohan Iohan sig. A.iv Nought shulde preuayle me, nother staffe nor waster Within a whyle she wolde be my mayster.
1555 W. Waterman tr. Josephus in tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions sig. X.ij Let there bee giuen vnto hym by the commune Sergeaunt of the batte .xxxix. stripes with a waster.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 92/1 Verianus and Marcellianus..were beat with wasters or trunshons, after that [they] were hanged..vpon the gibbet.
1598 J. Stow Suruay of London 70 The youthes of this citie, also haue vsed on holy dayes after euening prayer, at their maysters dores, to exercise their wasters and bucklers.
?1608 S. Lennard tr. P. Charron Of Wisdome Pref. sig. a5 A weake arme wanting power and skill well to weld a waster or staffe that is somewhat too heauie for it, wearieth it selfe and fainteth.
1611 J. Davies Scourge of Folly 177 A Groning Horse and grunting Wife neuer failes their Master. Yes, if the Master haue not life to ply them with the waster.
3. Fencing with a ‘waster’; single-stick, cudgel-play. Also plural esp. in to play at wasters.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > fencing > fencing or exercise with sticks or cudgels > [noun]
waster1519
wastership1575
single billeta1625
cudgels1630
quarterstaff1631
cudgel-playa1635
back-sword1699
cudgel-playing1717
hurlbatting1744
single-stick1771
short-staff1775
cudgelling1787
stick fighting1845
stick play1849
back-swording1857
kendo1921
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria xxxii. f. 281 Let vs pley at buckeler and at waster in feyre game... This waster [L. rudis] is nat laufull.
1594 1st Pt. Raigne Selimus sig. H I thought my selfe as proper a fellow at wasters, as any in all our village.
1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. T To see a Gillian draggell taile..play at wasters with a quil for the britches.
1630 T. Dekker Second Pt. Honest Whore ii. ii. 96 If o're husbands their wiues will needes be Masters, We men will haue a law to win't at wasters.
1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes iii. §11. 206 Such kind of recreations as..playing at wasters and foines.
1636 King & Queenes Entertainement Richmond (Bang) 11 And what can Richard doe, play a little at wasters, and make the blood..run about his vellowes eares at a Wake.
4. figurative.
ΚΠ
?1608 S. Lennard tr. P. Charron Of Wisdome Pref. sig. a4 v Science or Learning is a very good and profitable staffe or waster.
1640 G. Abbot Whole Bk. Iob Paraphr. xi. 73/1 Be perswaded to lay downe the wasters, to give over reasoning the matter.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. iii. 8 Being unable to weild the intellectual armes of reason, they are faine to betake themselves unto wasters and the blunter weapons of truth. View more context for this quotation
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
wastern.3
/ˈwɔːstə/, U.S. /ˈwɔstər/, /ˈwɑstər/, Scottish English /ˈwɔstər/ Scottish.
A fishing-spear.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > spear > [noun]
pricka1350
garfanglec1440
wawsper1472
spear1551
waster1580
fizgig1589
visgee1593
fish-spear1611
glaive1640
fish-giga1642
gaff1656
gig1705
lance1728
sticker1772
graina1818
picaroon1837
pickpole1837
fishing-spear1840
lily-iron1852
gambeering iron1883
mackerel gaff1883
1580 [implied in: Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 55/1 Cum omni alia piscatione salmonum..inter dict. bondas, sive reticulis et modo appellato vastering. (at wastering n.)].
1634 [implied in: Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 70/2 Cum cetera piscatione salmonum..reticulis aut modo vocato wastering. (at wastering n.)].
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. 61 This chase, in which the fish is pursued and struck with barbed spears, or a sort of long-shafted trident, called a waster, is much practised at the mouth of the Esk, and in the other salmon rivers of Scotland.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. 65 Ground the waster weel, man!
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Waster, a kind of trident used for striking salmon, Dumfr., Eskdale; the same with Wester.
a1835 J. Hogg Shepherd's Wedding ii, in Tales & Sketches (1837) II. 152 My teeth war a' waterin to be in him, but I kend the shank o' my waster wasna half length.
1843 W. Scrope Days & Nights Salmon Fishing in Tweed ix. 195 I shall give a description of the clodding, or throwing leister, or waster, as he was used to term it... The spear has five prongs of unequal, but regularly graduated, length.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
wasterv.
/ˈweɪstə/, U.S. /ˈweɪstər/, Scottish English /ˈwestər/ Scottish.
transitive. To spend or use extravagantly, to waste.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > squandering or prodigality > squander [verb (transitive)]
forspendc893
scatter1154
dispend1303
waste1340
misspendc1390
miswastec1400
consumec1425
waste1474
profund1527
lasha1535
prodige1538
lavish1542
to play away1562
riot1566
embezzle1578
dilapidate1590
squander1593
confound1598
to make ducks and drakes of or withc1600
prodigalize1611
profuse1611
squander1611
paddle1616
bezzle1617
to run out of ——1622
to piss away1628
prodigal1628
decoct1629
to bangle (away)1632
debauch1632
deboise1632
to fribble away1633
to fool out1635
to run outa1640
to fiddle away1667
slattera1681
dissipate1682
to play off1693
duck-and-drake1700
liquidate1702
sparkle away1703
waster1821
befool1861
to frivol away1866
to play (at) duck and drake with1872
to fling away1873
mislive1887
slather1904
mucker1928
profligate1938
peter1956
spaff2002
society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > waste of money or extravagance > spend extravagantly [verb (transitive)]
to piss (money, an opportunity, etc.) against the wall1540
lavish1542
melt1607
to piss away1628
unbowel1647
tap1712
sport1785
waster1821
blue1846
spree1859
to frivol away1866
blow1874
bust1878
skittle1883
to blow in1886
burst1892
bang1897
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (transitive)] > waste
spilla1000
scatter1154
aspilla1250
rospa1325
waste1340
spend1390
consumec1425
waste1474
miswenda1500
forsumea1510
to cast away1530
to throw away1561
embezzle1578
squander1593
palter1595
profuse1611
squander1611
ravel1614
sport1622
to fool away1628
to stream out1628
to fribble away1633
sweal1655
frisk1665
to fiddle away1667
wantonize1673
slattera1681
swattle1681
drivel1686
swatter1690
to muddle away1707
squander1717
sot1746
slattern1747
meisle1808
fritter1820
waster1821
slobber1837
to cut to waste1863
fringe1863
potter1883
putter1911
profligate1938
to piddle away1942
haemorrhage1978
spaff2002
1821 J. Galt Ann. Parish v. 58 My servant lasses..wastered every thing at such a rate..that, long before the end of the year, the year's stipend was all spent.
1823 J. Galt Entail II. xix. 184 Since that time he's been neither to bind nor to haud,..wastring his income in the most thoughtless way.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.21455
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