WAS 
WAS 577 
WASP, [peaj-p, Sax.; vespa, Lat.; guespe, Fr.] A 
brisk stinging insect, in form resembling a bee. 
More wasps, that buz about his nose, 
Will make this sting the sooner. Shakspeare. 
WASPERTON, a parish of England, in Warwickshire; 
4 miles south-south-west of Warwick. 
WASPIK, a village of the Netherlands, in South Holland, 
with 1600 inhabitants. 
WA'SPISH, adj. Peevish; malignant; irritable; iras¬ 
cible. 
I’ll use you for my laughter. 
When you are waspish. Shakspeare. 
WA'SPISHLY, ado. Peevishly. 
WA'SPISHNESS, s. Peevishness; irritability.—His skull 
is a mere nest of hornets, which sting into him their own 
waspishness. Cleave/and. 
WASS, a township of England, in Yorkshire; 6£ miles 
south-west of Helmesley. 
WASS ISLAND, an island of the Atlantic, near the coast 
of America. Lat. 44. 28. N. long. 67. 30. W. 
WASS AH, a town of Hindostan, province of Gujerat, 
district of Cambay. Lat. 22. 39. N. long. 72. 52. E. 
WA'SSAIL, s. [from paep hael, your health. Sax.] A 
liquor made of apples, sugar, and ale, anciently much used 
by English goodfellows. 
Some lusty sport 
Or spiced wasse/-bowl. Fletcher. 
A drunken bout. 
The king doth wake to-night, and takes his rouse, 
Keeps wassail, and the swagg’ring upspring reels. 
Shakspeare. 
A merry song. Ainsworth. —A particular song (called 
wassail) is still sung by boys at Christmas from house to 
house in some parts of Sussex. To a custom of such kind 
Ben Jonson seems to allude; Mason. 
This, I you tell, is our jolly wassel. 
And for twelfth-night more meet too. B. Jonson. 
To WA'SSAIL, v. n. To attend at wassails; to frolic; 
to tope.—Pushed forward to gaming, jigging, wassailing. 
Milton. 
WA'SSAILER, s. A toper ; a drunkard. 
I’m loth to meet the rudeness, and swill’d insolence 
Of such late wassailers. Milton. 
WASSAW ISLAND, Great, an island in the Atlantic, 
near the coast of Georgia ; 16 miles in circumference. Lat. 
32. 52. N. long. 81. 8. W. 
WASSAW ISLAND, Little, an island in the Atlantic, 
near the coast of Georgia, to the south-west of Great 
Wassaw. 
WASSAW SOUND, a bay on the coast of Georgia, be¬ 
tween Great Wassaw island and Tybee island. 
WASSEL, a hamlet of England, in the parish of Hagley, 
county of Worcester. 
WASSELA, a mountainous country of Central Africa, 
situated to the east of Kong, and having to the north and west 
Manding and Bambarra. 
WASSEN, a large village of Switzerland, in the canton of 
Uri, on the Reuss. 
WASSENAER, a village of the Netherlands, in South 
Holland, with 1700 inhabitants; 5 miles west-by-south of 
Leyden. 
WASSENBERG, a town of the Prussian province of 
Cleves and Berg, on the Roer; 9 miles east-south-east of 
Ruremond. Population 1000. 
WASSERBILLICH, a small town of the Netherlands, 
at the conflux of the Sauer and the Moselle; 9 miles west- 
south-west of Treves. 
WASSERBURG, a town of Germany, in Bavaria, on the 
Inn. It has a trade in salt; 28 miles east of Munich. Po¬ 
pulation 2000. 
WASSERBURG, a town of Germany, in Bavaria, on a 
Vol. XXIV. No. 1657. 
point of land projecting out into the lake of Constance. Po¬ 
pulation 800. 
WASSER TRUDINGEN, a town of Bavarian Franconia, 
on the Wernitz; 15 miles south of Anspach. Population 
1900. 
WASSIBOO, a small town of Bambarra, in Central Africa; 
75 miles east-south-east of Benowm. 
WASSIGNY, a town of France, department of the Arden¬ 
nes, on the small river Vaux. Population 1000. 
WASSOTA, a celebrated fortress of Hindostan, province 
of Bejapore, district of the Concan. There are two forts 
about 1000 yards from each other. They are both situated 
on rocks nearly perpendicular, and 3000 feet high. Lat. not 
ascertained. 
WAST. The second person of was, from To be. 
To WASTE, v. a. [apeptan. Sax.; woesten, Dutch; 
guastare, Ital.; vastare, Lat.] To diminish. 
The fire that mounts the liquor ’till’t run o’er, 
Seeming t’ augment it, wastes it. Shakspeare. 
To destroy wantonly, and luxuriously; to squander.—The 
people’s praying after the minister, they say, wasteth time. 
Hooker. —To destroy ; to desolate,—Peace to corrupt, no 
less than war to waste. Milton. —To wear out. 
Here condemn’d 
To waste eternal days in woe and pain. Milton. 
To spend; to consume. 
O were I able 
To waste it all myself, and leave you none! Milton. 
To WASTE, v. n. To dwindle; to be in a state of con¬ 
sumption. 
The latter watch of wasting night, 
And setting stars to kindly sleep invite. Dry den. 
WASTE, adj. Destroyed; ruined.—The Sophi leaves all 
waste in his retreat. Milton. —Desolate ; uncultivated.— 
He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling 
wilderness. Deut. —Superfluous; exuberant; lost for want 
of occupiers. 
Quite surcharg’d with her own weight, 
And strangled with her waste fertility. Milton. 
Worthless; that, of which none but vile uses can be made: 
as waste wood.—That of which no account is taken, or 
value found.—It may be published as well as printed, that 
so much skill in Hebrew derivations may not lie for waste 
paper. Dryden. 
WASTE, s. Wanton or luxurious destruction ; the act of 
squandering. 
Freedom wdio loves, must first be wise and good; 
But from that mark how far they rove we see. 
For all this waste of wealth, and loss of blood. Milton. 
Consumption; loss. 
But youth, the perishing good, runs on too fast. 
And unenjoy’d it spends itself to waste ; 
Few know the use of life before ’tis past. Dryden. 
Desolate or uncultivated ground. 
See the man who spacious regions gave, 
A waste for beasts, himself deny’d a grave. Pope. 
Ground, place, or space unoccupied. 
These gentlemen, on their watch. 
In the dead waste and middle of the night, 
Had been thus encountered. * Shakspeare. 
Region ruined and deserted. 
All the leafy nation sinks at last. 
And Vulcan rides in triumph o’er the waste. Dryden. 
Mischief; destruction.—The spirit of wantonness is, sure, 
scared out of him : if the devil have him not in fee-simple, 
he will never, I think, in the way of waste, attempt us again. 
Shakspeare .—[A law term.] Destruction of wood or other 
products of land.—You are but tenant for life, and shall 
make no waste. Shadwell. 
6 F 
WASTEFUL, 
