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Want

11 dictionary results for: Want

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

want

[wont, wawnt] Pronunciation Key

–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 (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

want   (wŏnt, wônt) Pronunciation Key
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.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

want
noun
1.	a state of extreme poverty [syn: privation]
2.	the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable; "there is a serious lack of insight into the problem"; "water is the critical deficiency in desert regions"; "for want of a nail the shoe was lost" [syn: lack]
3.	anything that is necessary but lacking; "he had sufficient means to meet his simple needs"; "I tried to supply his wants" [syn: need]
4.	a specific feeling of desire; "he got his wish"; "he was above all wishing and desire" [syn: wish]
verb
1.	feel or have a desire for; want strongly; "I want to go home now"; "I want my own room" [syn: desire]
2.	have need of; "This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner"
3.	hunt or look for; want for a particular reason; "Your former neighbor is wanted by the FBI"; "Uncle Sam wants you"
4.	wish or demand the presence of; "I want you here at noon!"
5.	be without, lack; be deficient in; "want courtesy"; "want the strength to go on living"; "flood victims wanting food and shelter"

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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

want

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

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Want

Wane\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Waned; p. pr. & vb. n. Waning.] [OE. wanien, AS. wanian, wonian, from wan, won, deficient, wanting; akin to D. wan-, G. wahnsinn, insanity, OHG. wan, wana-, lacking, wan?n to lessen, Icel. vanr lacking, Goth. vans; cf. Gr. ? bereaved, Skr. ?na wanting, inferior. ????. Cf. Want lack, and Wanton.]

1. To be diminished; to decrease; -- contrasted with wax, and especially applied to the illuminated part of the moon.

Like the moon, aye wax ye and wane. Waning moons their settled periods keep. --Addison.

2. To decline; to fail; to sink.

You saw but sorrow in its waning form. --Dryden.

Land and trade ever will wax and wane together. --Sir J. Child.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

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Acronym Finder - Cite This Source - Share This

WANT

WANT: in Acronym Finder

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