Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
waste of material

waste of material

1 3.2
Using or throwing away materials so usable parts are lost
  • noun
translation icon : pérdida de material
  • The engineer emphasized that any miscalculation could lead to a significant waste of material.

Examples

  • Siemens said the specialized control software helps users of blow molding machines arrive at the appropriate thickness profile parameters quickly and with minimal waste of material.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Anything else is a waste of material.

    Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

  • Observing the waste of materials at these sites, Murdaugh and Krause came up with the idea for Woodbin 2.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Using high-quality materials can prevent a waste of material and time during construction.

  • Implementing recycling programs helps reduce the waste of material in manufacturing processes.

Synonyms

waste
vswaste of material
469 1.2

Careless use of money, time, or other resources

is limited to unnecessary material use that reduces productivity
wastage
vswaste of material
  • UK
2 5.2

Loss of materials or food that could have been used

is about reduced productivity from unnecessary material use
wastefulness
vswaste of material
1 4.6

Using money or things carelessly in a way that causes extra loss

refers to unnecessary material use causing loss of productivity rather than habit
squandering
vswaste of material
1 7.2

Using valuable things like time or money in a wasteful way

is about unnecessary material use reducing productivity rather than lavish spending
dissipation
vswaste of material
1 7.7

Careless use of resources like time or money

focuses on material use and productivity loss rather than nonmaterial consumption

Antonyms

to conserve
63 3.4

Protect something from harm or waste by using it carefully

economic
2 3.7

Using little time or few materials to avoid waste

How Efficient

recycling
33 1.8
waste of material
1 3.2
wasteful
48 3.0

Surface Forms

waste of material singular
wastes of material plural

Morphology

waste + of + material

The phrase is directly compositional: combining 'waste' (inefficient use) + 'of' + 'material' yields the literal meaning 'unnecessary or inefficient use/disposal of material.' This noun‑of‑noun construction is a common, cross‑linguistic pattern in English and would be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Waste of material makes you think of a workshop where pieces of wood, cloth or metal are cut off and thrown away, so the material becomes waste instead of being used. That's why it means using or throwing away materials in a way that wastes money or time.