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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

waste not, want not en · X

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) If one is not wasteful then one will not be in need.
    • “They take the cocoa-nuts to the town kitchen,” said the captain, “to be made into cocoa-nut ice for the army breakfast; waste not want not, you know.” 1910, Edith Nesbit, chapter 2, in The Magic City:
    • I'm a believer in “waste not, want not”, and we roast our leftover bread, finely sliced and brushed with olive oil, in a low oven. 2006 July 9, Richard Corrigan, “Fish tales”, in Sunday Times, UK, retrieved 05 Jul 2008:
    • Besides these, there were some little pleasures in the shape of helping her to vegetable she didn't want, and when it had nearly alighted on her plate, taking it across for his own use, on the plea of waste not, want not. 1872, [Thomas Hardy], “VIII. They Dance More Wildly”, in Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School, volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, →OCLC, part I, page 114:

Coordinates

a penny saved is a penny earned

Relateds

mottainai

Translations (6)

fr tout est bon dans le cochon (If one is not wasteful then one will not be in need) · it il risparmio è il miglior guadagno (If one is not wasteful then one will not be in need) · fi säästäväisyys on hyve (If one is not wasteful then one will not be in need) · cmn 儉以防匱 /俭以防匮 (If one is not wasteful then one will not be in need) · de spare in der Zeit, so hast du in der Not (If one is not wasteful then one will not be in need) · pl nie marnuj, a nie będziesz w potrzebie (If one is not wasteful then one will not be in need)