dissipation

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act of dissipating or the condition of having been dissipated.
• noun Wasteful expenditure or consumption.
• noun Dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure; intemperance.
• noun An amusement; a diversion.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of dissipating, dispelling, or dispersing; the state of being dissipated; a passing or wasting away: as, the dissipation of vapor or heat; the dissipation of energy.
• noun The act of wasting by misuse; wasteful expenditure or loss: as, the dissipation of one's powers or means in unsuccessful efforts.
• noun Distraction of the mind and waste of its energy, as by diverse occupations or objects of attention; anything that distracts the mind or divides the attention.
• noun Undue indulgence in pleasure; specifically, the intemperate pursuit of enjoyment through excessive use of intoxicating drink, and its attendant vices.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act of dissipating or dispersing; a state of dispersion or separation; dispersion; waste.
• noun A dissolute course of life, in which health, money, etc., are squandered in pursuit of pleasure; profuseness in vicious indulgence, as late hours, riotous living, etc.; dissoluteness.
• noun A trifle which wastes time or distracts attention.
• noun Same as Degradation of energy, under Degradation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The act of dissipating or dispersing; a state of dispersion or separation; dispersion; waste.
• noun A dissolute course of life, in which health, money, etc., are squandered in pursuit of pleasure; profuseness in vicious indulgence, as late hours, riotous living, etc.; dissoluteness.
• noun A trifle which wastes time or distracts attention.
• noun physics A loss of energy, usually as heat, from a dynamic system

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun useless or profitless activity; using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly
• noun dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure
• noun breaking up and scattering by dispersion