lay waste

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to give me your considered opinion concerning the interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentences?

The fascists lay waste many towns and villages.

In a very few minutes Mr. Swiveller was fast asleep, dreaming that he had married Nelly Trent and come into her property, and that his first act of power was to lay waste the market-garden of Mr. Cheggs and turn it into a brickfield. (Ch. Dickens, “The Old Curiosity Shop”)

The mining companies haven’t spent a penny to make up for the way they’ve laid waste the country-side. (K. S. Prichard, “Golden Miles”)

lay waste = destroy, exterminate, ruin, devastate, ravage

V.

[5jj]

lay waste = destroy, exterminate, ruin, devastate, ravage .

Close.