noun
waste
A barren or uninhabited expanse of land.
A frozen waste stretches beyond the research station.
Etymology
The older adjective means empty or uncultivated. As a noun, waste names a tract lacking settlement or productive cultivation.
More examples
- The travelers crossed a vast sandy waste.
- Nothing moved across the white wastes of the plateau.
- The map showed an uninhabited waste beyond the ridge.
Forms
waste · wastes
Similar words
- wilderness
- May be lush rather than barren or desolate.
- desert
- Usually an arid region rather than any barren expanse.