wasteland en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈweɪs(t)ˌlənd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈweɪs(t)ˌlænd/ (General-American)
- /ˈweɪs(t)ˌland/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈwæes(t)ˌlɛnd/ (New-Zealand)
- /ˈweɪs(t)ˌlənd/ (General-American)
- /ˈwæes(t)ˌlɘnd/ (New-Zealand)
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English wast lond, modification of earlier weste lond, from Old English weste land (“wasteland”); equivalent to waste + land.
Meanings
-
A place with no remaining resources; a desert.
Ten years of drought had left the area a wasteland.
2007, Kai Hansen, "To Mother Earth", Gamma Ray, Land of the Free II. Here create another wasteland / On and on 'til nothing's there / Here it comes, the devastation / Poisoning the air
-
Any barren or uninteresting place.
Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.
1961 May 9, Newton N. Minow, Television and the Public Interest:After his experiences, he no longer found western Kansas such a wasteland.
-
A devastated, uninhabitable area.
Yet had the whole train and all its bombs gone, had the engine crew merely jumped from the train and run as simple self-preservation would have suggested, or unhitched just the engine to make their escape faster, the whole town would have gone and most of the people with it, leaving just a smoking wasteland. Hundreds would have died.
2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:Another place where, from the aesthetic point of view, a long tunnel would have been a real blessing, is East London as viewed from the carriage window on the old Great Eastern line. Despite a vast change from crowded slums to tracts of wasteland, due to its grim wartime experience, this approach still provides a shabby and unworthy introduction to the great capital.
1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 703:How many nuclear missiles would have to be launched at the United States to turn it into a complete wasteland?
2014, Randall Munroe, anonymous quotee, “Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #7”, in What If?, New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 157:
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Unused land.
Azaz and Ray were nominated individually for what, at first glance, looked like a project to transform wasteland at South Tottenham station into a community garden.
2023 September 20, “National Rail Awards 2023”, in RAIL, page 82:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| wastelands | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Relateds
Translations (118)
la āvia (region with no remaining resources; desert) · da ødemark (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ru пусты́рь (region with no remaining resources; desert) · is eyðimörk (barren and uninteresting place) · es desierto (region with no remaining resources; desert) · sv ödemark (barren and uninteresting place) · uk пустири́ще (region with no remaining resources; desert) · gl ermo (region with no remaining resources; desert) · sk púšť (region with no remaining resources; desert) · fi joutomaa (barren and uninteresting place) · ca ermàs (region with no remaining resources; desert) · mi tuakau (region with no remaining resources; desert) · tr çoraklık (region with no remaining resources; desert) · fr steppe (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ru пусты́ня (barren and uninteresting place) · ko 황무지 (region with no remaining resources; desert) · es yermo (region with no remaining resources; desert) · mh oļōt (barren and uninteresting place) · eo senkultivejo (region with no remaining resources; desert) · mh jem̧aden (devastated area) · cmn 廢土 /废土 (region with no remaining resources; desert) · cy diffaith (region with no remaining resources; desert) · is auðn (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ng ombuga class 9 (region with no remaining resources; desert) · de Ödnis (region with no remaining resources; desert) · es baldío (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ota چول (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ga fásach (region with no remaining resources; desert) · be пусты́р (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ca ermàs (barren and uninteresting place) · de Wüste (region with no remaining resources; desert) · he ישימון (region with no remaining resources; desert) · it brughiera (region with no remaining resources; desert) · hi बीहड़ (barren and uninteresting place) · fi autiomaa (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ru пу́стошь (region with no remaining resources; desert) · gl deserto (region with no remaining resources; desert) · da ødemark (barren and uninteresting place) · oc ermàs (region with no remaining resources; desert) · mk пу́стина (barren and uninteresting place) · cmn 荒地 (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ja 荒地 (region with no remaining resources; desert) · mi tuakau (barren and uninteresting place) · es terreno baldío (region with no remaining resources; desert) · et kõnnumaa (region with no remaining resources; desert) · es páramo (region with no remaining resources; desert) · hu sivatag (region with no remaining resources; desert) · fi erämaa (region with no remaining resources; desert) · fo oyðimørk (region with no remaining resources; desert) · pt terreno baldio (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ru боло́то (barren and uninteresting place) · it terreno brullo (region with no remaining resources; desert) · mk пусте́лија (barren and uninteresting place) · sh pustoš (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ca ermot (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ca ermot (barren and uninteresting place) · ko 황지 (region with no remaining resources; desert) · fo oyðilendi (barren and uninteresting place) · fo oyðiland (region with no remaining resources; desert) · oc èrm (region with no remaining resources; desert) · et tühermaa (region with no remaining resources; desert) · hu (kietlen) pusztaság (barren and uninteresting place) · sv ökenmark (region with no remaining resources; desert) · is auðn (barren and uninteresting place) · de Wüstenlandschaft (region with no remaining resources; desert) · is öræfi (barren and uninteresting place) · lv tuksneša zeme (region with no remaining resources; desert) · fr friche (region with no remaining resources; desert) · gd fàsach (region with no remaining resources; desert) · hi बंजर (region with no remaining resources; desert) · de Wüstenei (region with no remaining resources; desert) · fi kitumaa (region with no remaining resources; desert) · hi मरुस्थल (region with no remaining resources; desert) · is eyðimörk (region with no remaining resources; desert) · uk пу́стка (region with no remaining resources; desert) · uk пу́стище (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ar أَرْض خَرَاب (region with no remaining resources; desert) · uk пусти́р (region with no remaining resources; desert) · sq qezëm (region with no remaining resources; desert) · pt charneca (region with no remaining resources; desert) · uk пустовщи́на (region with no remaining resources; desert) · sk pustatina (region with no remaining resources; desert) · de Ödland (region with no remaining resources; desert) · cs pustina (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ru дыра́ (barren and uninteresting place) · pl pustkowie (region with no remaining resources; desert) · eo dezerto (region with no remaining resources; desert) · cs pustina (barren and uninteresting place) · is öræfi (region with no remaining resources; desert) · cy diffeithdir (region with no remaining resources; desert) · nb øydemark (region with no remaining resources; desert) · de öde Gegend (barren and uninteresting place) · be пустэ́ча (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ca erm (region with no remaining resources; desert) · mh āne-jem̧aden (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ca erm (barren and uninteresting place) · nl woestenij (region with no remaining resources; desert) · bg пу́стош (region with no remaining resources; desert) · ang hæþ (region with no remaining resources; desert) · nb ødemark (region with no remaining resources; desert) · mk пусте́лија (region with no remaining resources; desert) · es barbechera (region with no remaining resources; desert) · fi tuhoalue (devastated area) · cs poušť (region with no remaining resources; desert) · be пу́стка (region with no remaining resources; desert) · tr çöl (region with no remaining resources; desert) · te బంజరు (barren and uninteresting place) · la vastitas (region with no remaining resources; desert) · mk пу́стош (region with no remaining resources; desert) · pt deserto (region with no remaining resources; desert) · lt dykynė (region with no remaining resources; desert) · mh jem̧aden (region with no remaining resources; desert) · sv öken (region with no remaining resources; desert) · es barbecho (region with no remaining resources; desert) · de Ödnis (barren and uninteresting place) · cmn 單調的地方 /单调的地方 (barren and uninteresting place) · fr désert (region with no remaining resources; desert) · sq djerrinë (region with no remaining resources; desert)