浪费 (làng fèi) means “waste” | MotiTan Chinese Dictionary

More examples

别再浪费时间了，我们该开始学习了。bié zài làng fèi shí jiān le wǒ men gāi kāi shǐ xué xí le

Stop wasting time; we should start studying.

Something valuable is used up with no worthwhile return.

花huā: Spending time, money, or other resources for a purpose.
花钱huā qián: Spending money, usually to buy something or pay for a service.

把时间、金钱或物资不必要地耗费掉，使这些资源未能产生应有的价值。bǎ shí jiān jīn qián huò wù zī bú bì yào dì hào fèi diào shǐ zhè xiē zī yuán wèi néng chǎn shēng yīng yǒu de jià zhí

浪 (làng, "unrestrained") + 费 (fèi, "to expend") presents spending as going beyond a useful limit, which gives the compound its sense of waste.

The word applies to more than money: time, food, electricity, materials, and opportunities can all be its object when their value is lost through poor use.