waster
/ˈweɪstə/ noun
Forms wasters wastor wastour
- noun Someone or something that wastes; someone who squanders or spends extravagantly.
- noun (dialectal) An imperfection in the wick of a candle, causing it to waste.
- noun (obsolete) A destroyer or plunderer.
- noun An item that is spoiled during its manufacture.
- noun (slang, derogatory) An idle, worthless person; a loser.
- noun (obsolete, chiefly fencing) A kind of cudgel; also, a blunt-edged sword used as a foil.
- noun (obsolete, Scotland) A leister; a spear for catching fish.
Synonyms
big spender dingthrift neve overspender prodigal profligate saprophage scattergood slipstring slipthrift sparkler spend-all spendthrift splurge splurger squanderer unthrift wastegood wastethrift wastrel destroyer ruiner undoer uprooter
Etymology
From Middle English wastere, waister, wastar, wastour, equivalent to waste + -er. Compare Anglo-Norman wastur, Old French gastëor.
Unknown
Webster’s 1913
- noun One who, or that which, wastes; one who squanders; one who consumes or expends extravagantly; a spendthrift; a prodigal.
- noun An imperfection in the wick of a candle, causing it to waste; --called also a thief. Halliwell.
Etymology [OE. wastour, OF. wasteor, gasteor. See Waste, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “waster”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details