WANT • DICCIONARIO INGLES.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

... too. You needn't think there's anything wrong." She looked at them with an expression as if she was ready to spring at the slightest intimation of distrust on their part. "It is only just that people think they want young help and they are going to have it. I've got the place and I'm in clover, and it's worth something looking so much better, though it don't make much difference to me. All I care about nowadays is ...

— The Debtor - A Novel • Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

... more of this pilfering business, and now they're beginning to find out it isn't all in my camp by a damned sight. I want that letter copied at once." Then with a glance at Gray, who had whipped off his cap and was standing in respectful attitude, he changed his tone from the querulous, half-treble of complaint. "What's this you'd best leave ...

— Found in the Philippines - The Story of a Woman's Letters • Charles King

... freed from him without the approbation of the civil and ecclesiastical power. A man may be unhappy, because he is not so rich as another; but he is not to seize upon another's property with his own hand.' BOSWELL. 'But, Sir, this lady does not want that the contract should be dissolved; she only argues that she may indulge herself in gallantries with equal freedom as her husband does, provided she takes care not to introduce a spurious issue into his family. You know, ...

— The Life Of Johnson, Volume 3 of 6 • Boswell

... I am afraid," said the chemist who had originally spoken. "This smoke could remain floating in the atmosphere for weeks, and the only wonder to me is how they ever expect to get rid of it, when they think their enemies have gone and they want some sunshine again." ...

— Edison's Conquest of Mars • Garrett Putman Serviss

... of Coleman, M'Intosh, Norman, and Byrne, who, 'tis confessed, were desirous of leaving the ship), she must either have gone down with us, or, to prevent it, we must have lightened her of the provisions and other necessary articles, and thereby have perished for want—dreadful alternative! ...

— The Eventful History Of The Mutiny And Piratical Seizure - Of H.M.S. Bounty: Its Cause And Consequences • Sir John Barrow

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