term:

Waste

waste n

1 : destruction of or damage to property that is caused by the act or omission of one (as a lessee, mortgagor, or life tenant) having a lesser estate and is usually to the injury of another (as an heir, mortgagee, or remainderman) with an interest in the same property [an action for ]

ame·lio·rat·ing waste
[ə-mēl-yə-rā-ti-]
: waste that leads to improvement of property (as by clearing the way for rebuilding something) called also ameliorative waste

permissive waste
: waste caused by the failure of a tenant to take ordinary or proper care of the property

voluntary waste
: waste caused by the intentional commission of a destructive act by a tenant
2 : a reduction of the value of assets (as in a trust) caused by a failure to exercise proper care or sound judgment in managing them
;esp
: a transfer of corporate assets (as through excessive executive compensation or a merger) for no legitimate business purpose or for less than what a person of ordinary sound business judgment would consider to be adequate consideration [the essence of a claim of of corporate assets is the diversion of corporate assets for improper or unnecessary purposes "Michelson v. Duncan, 407 A.2d 211 (1979)"] NOTE: Waste injures the interests of shareholders.

Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.