Want
want (277), n. (Originally an adj., fromIcel. vant, neuter of vanr lacking, deficient. r139.
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 , v. t. (imp. p. pr. 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. 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 , v. i. (Icel. vanta to bewanting. 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.
f Want was formerly used impersonally with an indirect
object. Him wanted audience. Chaucer.
want (?). A colloquial contraction of wasnot.
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