Want definition | Dictionary.com

want

[wont, wawnt]

–verb (used with object)

1.	to feel a need or a desire for; wish for: to want one's dinner; always wanting something new.

2.	to wish, need, crave, demand, or desire (often fol. by an infinitive): I want to see you. She wants to be notified.

3.	to be without or be deficient in: to want judgment; to want knowledge.

4.	to fall short by (a specified amount): The sum collected wants but a few dollars of the desired amount.

5.	to require or need: The house wants painting.

–verb (used without object)

6.	to feel inclined; wish; like (often fol. by to): We can stay home if you want.

7.	to be deficient by the absence of some part or thing, or to feel or have a need (sometimes fol. by for): He did not want for abilities.

8.	to have need (usually fol. by for): If you want for anything, let him know.

9.	to be in a state of destitution, need, or poverty: She would never allow her parents to want.

10.	to be lacking or absent, as a part or thing necessary to completeness: All that wants is his signature.

–noun

11.	something wanted or needed; necessity: My wants are few.

12.	something desired, demanded, or required: a person of childish, capricious wants.

13.	absence or deficiency of something desirable or requisite; lack: plants dying for want of rain.

14.	the state of being without something desired or needed; need: to be in want of an assistant.

15.	the state of being without the necessaries of life; destitution; poverty: a country where want is virtually unknown.

16.	a sense of lack or need of something: to feel a vague want.

—Idiom

17.

want in or out, Chiefly Midland.

a.	to desire to enter or leave: The cat wants in.

b.	Informal. to desire acceptance in or release from something specified: I talked with Louie about our plan, and he wants in.

Origin:
1150–1200; ME wante < ON vanta to lack

Related forms:

wanter, noun

wantless, adjective

want⋅less⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. require, crave. See wish. 3. need. See lack. 11. desideratum. 13. dearth, scarcity, scarceness, inadequacy, insufficiency, paucity, meagerness. 15. privation, penury, indigence. See poverty.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To Want

want (wŏnt, wônt)

v. want·ed, want·ing, wants

v. tr.

1. To desire greatly; wish for: They want to leave. She wants a glass of water. See Synonyms at desire.
2. To desire (someone to do something): I want you to clean your room.
3. To request the presence or assistance of: You are wanted by your office.
4. To seek with intent to capture: The fugitive is wanted by the police.
1. To request the presence or assistance of: You are wanted by your office.
2. To seek with intent to capture: The fugitive is wanted by the police.
To have an inclination toward; like: Say what you want, but be tactful.
Informal To be obliged (to do something): You want to be careful on the ice.
To be without; lack. See Synonyms at lack.
To be in need of; require: "'Your hair wants cutting,' said the Hatter" (Lewis Carroll).

v. intr.

To have need: wants for nothing.
To be destitute or needy.
To be disposed; wish: Call me daily if you want.

The condition or quality of lacking something usual or necessary: stayed home for want of anything better to do.
Pressing need; destitution: lives in want.
Something desired: a person of few wants and needs.
A defect of character; a fault.

Phrasal Verb(s):
want in Slang

To desire greatly to enter: The dog wants in.
To wish to join a project, business, or other undertaking.

want out Slang

To desire greatly to leave: The cat wants out.
To wish to leave a project, a business, or other undertaking.

[Middle English wanten, to be lacking, from Old Norse vanta; see euə- in Indo-European roots.]
want'er n.

Usage Note: When want meaning "desire" is followed immediately by an infinitive construction, it does not take for: I want you to go (not want for you to go). When want and the infinitive are separated by a word or phrase, however, for is used: What I want is for you to go. I want very much for you to go. Want in its meaning of "have need, lack" normally takes for: They'll not want for anything now that they've inherited his estate. See Usage Note at wish.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Want

Want\ (277), n. [Originally an adj., from Icel. vant, neuter of vanr lacking, deficient. [root]139. See Wane, v. i.]

1. 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. --Milton.

From having wishes in consequence of our wants, we often feel wants in consequence of our wishes. --Rambler.

Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and more saucy. --Franklin.

2. 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. --Swift.

3. 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. --Paley.

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

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

Want

Want\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wanted; p. pr. & vb. n. Wanting.]

1. 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. --Beau. & Fl.

Nor think, though men were none, That heaven would want spectators, God want praise. --Milton.

The unhappy never want enemies. --Richardson.

2. 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.

3. To feel need of; to wish or long for; to desire; to crave. " What wants my son?" --Addison.

I want to speak to you about something. --A. Trollope.

Want

Want\, v. i. [Icel. vanta to be wanting. See Want to lack.]

1. 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. --Dryden.

2. 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. --B. Jonson.

For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find What wants in blood and spirits, swelled with wind. --Pope.

Note: Want was formerly used impersonally with an indirect object. "Him wanted audience." --Chaucer.

Language Translation for : Want

Spanish: querer; desear,

German: wollen,

Japanese: 欲する

More Translations »

want (v.)

c.1200, "to be lacking," from O.N. vanta "to lack, want," earlier *wanaton, from P.Gmc. *wanen, from PIE *we-no-, from base *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out" (see vain). The meaning "desire, wish for" is first recorded 1706. Wanted "sought by the police" was originally slang, in use by 1812.

want (n.)

c.1300, "deficiency, shortage," from O.N. vant, neut. of vanr "wanting, deficient;" related to O.E. wanian "to diminish" (see wane). Phrase for want of is recorded from c.1400. Meaning "state of destitution" is recorded from 1340. Newspaper want ad is recorded from 1897.

want

In addition to the idioms beginning with want, also see waste not, want not.

Search another word or see Want on Thesaurus | Reference

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Advertise with Us · Link to Us · NASCAR® · Contact Us