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wish

[wish]

–verb (used with object)

1.	to want; desire; long for (usually fol. by an infinitive or a clause): I wish to travel. I wish that it were morning.

2.	to desire (a person or thing) to be (as specified): to wish the problem settled.

3.	to entertain wishes, favorably or otherwise, for: to wish someone well; to wish someone ill.

4.	to bid, as in greeting or leave-taking: to wish someone a good morning.

5.	to request or charge: I wish him to come.

–verb (used without object)

6.	to desire; long; yearn (often fol. by for): Mother says I may go if I wish. I wished for a book.

7.	to make a wish: She wished more than she worked.

–noun

8.	an act or instance of wishing.

9.	a request or command: I was never forgiven for disregarding my father's wishes.

10.	an expression of a wish, often one of a kindly or courteous nature: to send one's best wishes.

11.	something wished or desired: He got his wish—a new car.

—Verb phrase

12.

wish on,

a.	to force or impose (usually used in the negative): I wouldn't wish that awful job on my worst enemy.

b.	Also, wish upon. to make a wish using some object as a magical talisman: to wish on a star.

Origin:
bef. 900; (v.) ME wisshen, OE wȳscan; c. G wünschen, ON æskja; akin to OE wynn joy (see winsome ), L venus charm (see Venus ); (n.) ME, deriv. of the v.

Related forms:

wisher, noun

wishless, adjective

Synonyms:
1. crave. Wish, desire, want indicate a longing for something. To wish is to feel an impulse toward attainment or possession of something; the strength of the feeling may be of greater or lesser intensity: I wish I could go home. Desire, a more formal word, suggests a strong wish: They desire a new regime. Want, usually colloquial in use, suggests a feeling of lack or need that imperatively demands fulfillment: People all over the world want peace. 5. direct, order. 12. will, want.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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wish (wĭsh)

A desire, longing, or strong inclination for a specific thing.
An expression of a desire, longing, or strong inclination; a petition.
Something desired or longed for.

v. wished, wish·ing, wish·es

v. tr.

To long for; want. See Synonyms at desire.
To entertain or express wishes for; bid: He wished her good night.
To call or invoke upon: I wish them luck.
To order or entreat: I wish you to go.
To impose or force; foist: They wished a hard job on her.

v. intr.

To have or feel a desire: wish for the moon.
To express a wish.

[Middle English wissh, from wisshen, to wish, from Old English wȳscan; see wen-¹ in Indo-European roots.]
wish'er n.

Usage Note: Wish is widely used as a polite substitute for want with infinitives: Do you wish to sit at a table on the terrace? Anyone who wishes to may leave now. This usage is appropriate for formal style, where it is natural to treat the desires of others with exaggerated deference. The corresponding use of wish with a noun-phrase object is less frequent: Anyone who wishes an aisle seat should see an attendant. Both usages are likely to sound stilted in informal style, however, and want may be substituted for wish. · A traditional rule requires the use of were rather than was in a contrary-to-fact statement that follows wish: I wish I were (not was) lighter on my feet. While many people continue to insist on upholding this rule, the indicative was in such clauses can be found in the works of many well-known writers. See Usage Notes at if, want.

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

Wish\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Wished; p. pr. & vb. n. Wishing.] [OE. wischen, weschen, wuschen, AS. w?scan; akin to D. wenschen, G. w["u]nschen, Icel. [ae]eskja, Dan. ["o]nske, Sw. ["o]nska; from AS. w?sc a wish; akin to OD. & G. wunsch, OHG. wunsc, Icel. ?sk, Skr. v[=a]?ch[=a] a wish, v[=a]?ch to wish; also to Skr. van to like, to wish. ?. See Winsome, Win, v. t., and cf. Wistful.]

1. To have a desire or yearning; to long; to hanker.

They cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. --Acts xxvii. 29.

This is as good an argument as an antiquary could wish for. --Arbuthnot.

Wish

Wish\, v. t. 1. To desire; to long for; to hanker after; to have a mind or disposition toward.

I would not wish Any companion in the world but you. --Shak.

I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper. --3. John 2.

2. To frame or express desires concerning; to invoke in favor of, or against, any one; to attribute, or cal down, in desire; to invoke; to imprecate.

I would not wish them to a fairer death. --Shak.

I wish it may not prove some ominous foretoken of misfortune to have met with such a miser as I am. --Sir P. Sidney.

Let them be driven backward, and put to shame, that wish me evil. --Ps. xl. 14.

3. To recommend; to seek confidence or favor in behalf of. [Obs.] --Shak.

I would be glad to thrive, sir, And I was wished to your worship by a gentleman. --B. Jonson.

Syn: See Desire.

Wish

Wish\, n. 1. Desire; eager desire; longing.

Behold, I am according to thy wish in God a stead. --Job xxxiii. 6.

2. Expression of desire; request; petition; hence, invocation or imprecation.

Blistered be thy tongue for such a wish. --Shak.

3. A thing desired; an object of desire.

Will he, wise, let loose at once his ire . . . To give his enemies their wish! --Milton.

Language Translation for : wish

Spanish: desear (que),

German: wünschen,

Japanese: 望む

More Translations »

wish (v.)

O.E. wyscan "to wish," from P.Gmc. *wunskijanan (cf. O.N. æskja, Dan. ønske, Swed. önska, M.Du. wonscen, Du. wensen, O.H.G. wunsken, Ger. wunschen "to wish"), from PIE *wun-/*wen-/*won- "to strive after, wish, desire, be satisfied" (cf. Skt. vanati "he desires, loves, wins," L. venus "love, sexual desire, loveliness," venerari "to worship;" see Venus). The noun is attested from c.1300. Wishful first recorded 1523. Wishful thinking is recorded from 1932; wish fulfillment (1901) translates Ger. wunscherfüllung (Freud, "Die Traumdeutung," 1900).

wish

In addition to the idiom beginning with wish, also see if wishes were horses.

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