dissipation

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The act of dissipating or dispersing; a state of dispersion or separation; dispersion; waste.

   “without loss or dissipation of the matter”

   “the famous dissipation of mankind”

2. (countable, uncountable)A dissolute course of life, in which health, money, etc., are squandered in pursuit of pleasure; profuseness in immoral indulgence, as late hours, riotous living, etc.; dissoluteness.

   “18th century, Patrick Henry in a parliamentary debate to reclaim the spendthrift from his dissipation and extravagance”

   “I rose by candle-light, and consumed, in the intensest application, the hours which every other individual of our party wasted in enervating slumbers, from the hesternal dissipation or debauch.”

   “He neither wept nor prayed; he cursed and defied: execrated God and man, and gave himself up to reckless dissipation.”

   “[...] This is a surprise attack, and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. I am sure, Lord Stranleigh, that he has been descanting on the distraction of the woods and the camp, or perhaps the metropolitan dissipation of Philadelphia, [...]”

   “An oil lamp burned upon a high, old-fashioned mantel, casting its dim rays over a dozen repulsive figures. All but one were men. The other was a woman of about thirty. Her face, marked by low passions and dissipation, might once have been lovely.”

3. (countable, uncountable)A trifle which wastes time or distracts attention.

   “Prevented from finishing them [the letters] a thousand avocations and dissipations.”

4. (countable, uncountable)A loss of energy, usually as heat, from a dynamic system.

   “They conclude[…] the planet will have a final period of rotation between 56 and 88 days, depending on the assumed form of the dissipation function.”