Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Peter Mark Roget

73; ebb; leakage &c (exudation) 295; loss &c 776; wear and tear; waste; prodigality &c 818; misuse &c 679; wasting &c v.; rubbish &c (useless) 645. mountain in labor. V. spend, expend, use, consume, swallow up, exhaust; impoverish; spill, drain, empty; disperse &c 73. cast away, fool away, muddle away, throw away, fling away, fritter away; burn the candle at both ends, waste; squander &c 818. waste its sweetness on the desert air [Gray]; cast one's bread upon the waters, cast pearls before swine; employ a steam engine to crack a nut, waste powder and shot, break a butterfly on a wheel; labor in vain &c (useless) 645; cut blocks with a razor, pour water into a sieve. leak &c (run out) 295; run to waste; ebb; melt away, run dry, dry up. Adj. wasted &c v.; at a low ebb. wasteful &c (prodigal) 818; penny wise and pound foolish. Phr. magno conatu magnas nugas [Lat.]; le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle [Fr.]; idly busy rolls their world away [Goldsmith].