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waste not, want not

proverb

Definitions

  1. If one is not wasteful then one will not be in need.

    • 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.
    • “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.”
    • 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.

The neighborhood

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sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA