WANT • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Want

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/wɑnt/ /wɔnt/ Listen

verb

Want v. t. (past & past part. wanted; pres. part. wanting)

To be without; to be destitute of, or deficient in; not to have; to lack; as, to want knowledge; to want judgment; to want learning; to want food and clothing. "They that want honesty, want anything." "Nor think, though men were none, That heaven would want spectators, God want praise." "The unhappy never want enemies."

To have occasion for, as useful, proper, or requisite; to require; to need; as, in winter we want a fire; in summer we want cooling breezes.

To feel need of; to wish or long for; to desire; to crave. " What wants my son?" "I want to speak to you about something."

Want v. i.

To be absent; to be deficient or lacking; to fail; not to be sufficient; to fall or come short; to lack; often used impersonally with of; as, it wants ten minutes of four. "The disposition, the manners, and the thoughts are all before it; where any of those are wanting or imperfect, so much wants or is imperfect in the imitation of human life."

To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack. "You have a gift, sir (thank your education), Will never let you want." "For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find What wants in blood and spirits, swelled with wind." Note: Want was formerly used impersonally with an indirect object. "Him wanted audience."

noun

Want n.

The state of not having; the condition of being without anything; absence or scarcity of what is needed or desired; deficiency; lack; as, a want of power or knowledge for any purpose; want of food and clothing. "And me, his parent, would full soon devour For want of other prey." "From having wishes in consequence of our wants, we often feel wants in consequence of our wishes." "Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and more saucy."

Specifically, absence or lack of necessaries; destitution; poverty; penury; indigence; need. "Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches, as to conceive how others can be in want."

That which is needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt; what is not possessed, and is necessary for use or pleasure. "Habitual superfluities become actual wants."

(Mining) A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place. (Eng.)

Synonyms: Indigence; deficiency; defect; destitution; lack; failure; dearth; scarceness.

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Etymology of 'Want'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Want" Quotes from Famous Books

... Eveline, unbent by adversity and want, gradually lost effect on the defenders of the castle; and proposals for surrender were urged and discussed by a tumultuary council, into which not only the inferior officers, but many of the common men, had thrust themselves, as in a period ...

— The Betrothed • Sir Walter Scott

... carpenter Abel Bush; while one of her youngest though most active A.B.s was Billy True Blue Freeborn. She had a black cook too. He was not a very good one; but he played the fiddle, and that was considered to make amends for his want of skill. ...

— True Blue • W.H.G. Kingston

... morning to night, for next to nothing. It ought not to be allowed in a civilised country. And on the top of all this slavery we are expected to be very much obliged for the opportunity of working at all. You chuck us a crust just as you would chuck a bone to a dog, and then you want us to go down on our knees and pour blessings on Balfour's head. We're tired of such stuff; but, thank God, we shall soon have things in our own hands. All these men are small farmers, or small farmers' sons. They can't get a living out of the land, and they are ...

— Ireland as It Is - And as It Would be Under Home Rule • Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

... content him, which was all they could raise, that sum should be sent aboard, and the governor would rely on the honour of Captain Clipperton for the release of the ship. Clipperton accepted this proposal, but as his bark was in want of provisions and water, he sent word to the governor, that every kind of provisions and drink were not to be considered as within the capitulation. This was readily agreed to, the money was sent on board, and as soon as the provisions were got ...

— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume X • Robert Kerr

... "They want to worry us enough so that the men will lose sleep," said a soldier standing near. "But no one will bother about a few shells. The men will get into the bomb proof shelters until daylight. It is a waste of ...

— Shelled by an Unseen Foe • James Fiske

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