Your waist is the part of your body above your hips. Waste is material you discard or a resource you use carelessly. A tailor can measure your waist and reuse the fabric scraps to reduce waste.
Waist and waste in sentences
- “The tailor took in the waist of the trousers.” The change affects how the trousers fit around the body.
- “Put the scraps in the food waste bin.” Here waste is a noun for material being discarded.
- “Freeze the leftovers so we don’t waste food.” Here waste is a verb meaning to use something carelessly or let it go unused.
Spell waist measurement with an i
Use waist when you’re measuring for a belt. When time goes to something unproductive, call it a waste of time.
Try it
“I saved the fabric scraps from taking in the ___ so they wouldn’t go to ___.”
Show the answer
Use waist for the part of the garment and waste for the material that would be discarded.
See the guide to confusing words for more words that sound alike.
