laying waste vs wrecking

laying waste and wrecking both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
laying waste	Yes	No	No	No
wrecking	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, laying waste and wrecking are synonyms defined as:

laying waste and wrecking: destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or ruined

Other synonyms of laying waste include ruin, ruination, ruining.

laying waste (noun)	wrecking (noun)
destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or ruined	destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or ruined
	the event of a structure being completely demolished and leveled