How to sign “Waste” in ASL
The BSL sign for “Waste” isn't in our dictionary yet — it will be fingerspelled in BSL mode, never replaced with this ASL sign.
Step by step
- Open both hands into loose 5 handshapes with all fingers spread wide apart.
- Hold your non-dominant hand palm-up at waist height as a flat base.
- Lay the back of your dominant palm-up hand onto the other open palm.
- Swipe the dominant hand outward and off the base hand in one careless flick.
- Keep the dominant palm facing upward through the swipe, as if tossing something away.
- Wear a slightly dismissive expression — the sign carries a careless who-cares attitude.
Practice tip
One swipe reads as squandering or wasting; it also covers WASTE-TIME when context points to squandered hours.
Fingerspell “Waste”
Letter by letter — a handy backup if you forget the sign above. This is not the sign itself.
Text-based guide researched from established ASL references (Lifeprint, university and public-health materials) and rewritten in original words. Signer-created photos and videos are a planned future upgrade.