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lacking
3 dictionary results for: lacking
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
lack·ing       [lak-ing] Pronunciation Key
–preposition
1.being without; not having; wanting; less: Lacking equipment, the laboratory couldn't undertake the research project.
–adjective
2.wanting; deficient: He was found lacking in stamina.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME; see lack, -ing2]
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
lack       (lāk)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. Deficiency or absence: Lack of funding brought the project to a halt.
  2. A particular deficiency or absence: Owing to a lack of supporters, the reforms did not succeed.

v.   lacked, lack·ing, lacks

v.   tr.
To be without or in need of: lacked the strength to lift the box.

v.   intr.
  1. To be missing or deficient: We suspected that he was lying, but proof was lacking.
  2. To be in need of something: She does not lack for friends.


[Middle English, perhaps from Middle Dutch lac, deficiency, fault.]

Synonyms: These verbs mean to be without something, especially something that is necessary or desirable. Lack emphasizes the absence of something: She lacks the money to buy new shoes. The plant died because it lacked moisture.
Want and need stress the urgent necessity for filling a void or remedying an inadequacy: "Her pens were uniformly bad and wanted fixing" (Bret Harte). The garden needs care.

Usage Note: When lack is used intransitively, the present participle is generally followed by in: You will not be lacking in support from me. Other forms of the intransitive verb are most often followed by for: In the terrible, beautiful age of my prime,/I lacked for sweet linen but never for time (E.B. White).

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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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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
lacking

adjective
1. inadequate in amount or degree; "a deficient education"; "deficient in common sense"; "lacking in stamina"; "tested and found wanting" [syn: deficient] 
2. nonexistent; "the thumb is absent"; "her appetite was lacking" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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