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Webster 1913 Edition

Want

Want

(277)
,
Noun.
[Originally an adj., from Icel.
vant
, neuter of
vanr
lacking, deficient. √139. See
Wane
,
Verb.
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

,
Verb.
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

,
Verb.
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.
☞ Want was formerly used impersonally with an indirect object. “Him wanted audience.”
Chaucer.

Webster 1828 Edition

Want

WANT

,
Noun.
1.
Deficiency; defect; the absence of that which is necessary or useful; as a want of power or knowledge fro any purpose; want of food and clothing. The want of money is a common want. 2 Corinthians 8, 9.
From having wishes in consequence of our wants, we often feel wants in consequence of our wishes.
2.
Need; necessity; the effect of deficiency.
Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and more saucy.
3.
Poverty; penury; indigence.
Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches as to conceive how others can be in want.
4.
The state of not having. I cannot write a letter at present for want of time.
5.
That which is not possessed, but is desired or necessary for use or pleasure.
Habitual superfluities become actual wants.
6.
A mole.

WANT

,
Verb.
T.
waunt.
1.
To be destitute; to be deficient in; not to have; a word of general application; as, to want knowledge; to want judgment; to want learning; to want food and clothing; to want money.
2.
To be defective or deficient in. Timber may want strength or solidity to answer its purpose.
3.
To fall short; not to contain or have. The sum want a dollar of the amount of debt.
Nor think, though men were none, that heaven would want spectators, God want praise.
4.
To be without.
The unhappy never want enemies.
5.
To need; to have occasion for, as useful, proper or requisite. Our manners want correction. In winter we want a fire; in summer we want cooling breezes. We all want more public spirit and more virtue.
6.
To wish for; to desire. Every man wants a little pre-eminence over his neighbor. Many want that which they cannot obtain, and which if they could obtain, would certainly ruin them.
What wants my son?

WANT

,
Verb.
I.
waunt.
1.
To be deficient; not to be sufficient.
As in bodies, thus in souls, we find what wants in blood and spirits, swelld with wind.
2.
To fail; to be deficient; to be lacking.
No time shall find me wanting to my truth.
3.
To be missed; not to be present. The jury was full, wanting one.
4.
To fall short; to be lacking.
Twelve, wanting one, he slew.

Definition 2024

Want

Want

See also: want, Wänt, wa'n't, and wan't

English

Proper noun

Want

  1. A personification of want.

German

Etymology

From Middle Dutch want, gewant, from Old Dutch *giwant, from Proto-Germanic *gawandą, from the root of winden.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vant/
  • Rhymes: -ant

Noun

Want f, n ‎(genitive Want or Wants, plural Wanten)

  1. (nautical) shroud

Declension

Derived terms

  • Hofwant
  • Oberwant
  • Unterwant

want

want

See also: Want, Wänt, wa'n't, and wan't

English

Alternative forms

  • waunt (obsolete)

Verb

want ‎(third-person singular simple present wants, present participle wanting, simple past and past participle wanted)

  1. (transitive) To wish for or to desire (something). [from 18th c.]
    What do you want to eat?  I want you to leave.  I never wanted to go back to live with my mother.  I want to be an astronaut when I'm older.  I don't want him to marry Gloria, I want him to marry me!  What do you want from me?  Do you want anything from the shops?‎
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 13, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.
    • 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
      Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.
  2. (intransitive, now dated) To be lacking, not to exist. [from 13th c.]
    There was something wanting in the play.‎
    • Dryden
      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.
  3. (transitive) To lack, not to have (something). [from 13th c.]
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.3.7:
      he that hath skill to be a pilot wants a ship; and he that could govern a commonwealth […] wants means to exercise his worth, hath not a poor office to manage.
    • James Merrick
      Not what we wish, but what we want, / Oh, let thy grace supply!
    • Addison
      I observed that your whip wanted a lash to it.
  4. (transitive, colloquially with verbal noun as object) To be in need of; to require (something). [from 15th c.]
    • 1866, Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 7:
      “Your hair wants cutting,” said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.
    • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room, Chapter 2:
      The mowing-machine always wanted oiling. Barnet turned it under Jacob's window, and it creaked—creaked, and rattled across the lawn and creaked again.
    That chair wants fixing.‎
  5. (intransitive, dated) To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.
    • Ben Jonson
      You have a gift, sir (thank your education), / Will never let you want.
    • Alexander Pope
      For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find / What wants in blood and spirits, swelled with wind.

Usage notes

  • This is a catenative verb. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

want ‎(countable and uncountable, plural wants)

  1. (countable) A desire, wish, longing.
  2. (countable, often followed by of) Lack, absence.
    • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, King Henry VI Part 2, act 4, sc. 8:
      [H]eavens and honour be witness, that no want of resolution in me, but only my followers' base and ignominious treasons, makes me betake me to my heels.
    • For Want of a Nail:
      For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
      For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
      For want of a horse the rider was lost.
      For want of a rider the battle was lost.
      For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
      And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
  3. (uncountable) Poverty.
    • Jonathan Swift
      Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches, as to conceive how others can be in want.
  4. Something needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt.
    • Paley
      Habitual superfluities become actual wants.
  5. (Britain, mining) A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ↑ Dictionary.com

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: quite · brought · woman · #232: want · home · whose · words

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch want, from Middle Dutch want, from Old Dutch wanda, from Proto-Germanic *hwandē.

Conjunction

want

  1. for, because

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʋɑnt/
  • Homophone: wand

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch want, from Old Dutch wanda, from Proto-Germanic *hwandē.

Conjunction

want

  1. for, because
    Hij komt niet, want hij is ziek. — He is not coming, because he is sick. (Note: The order is SVO after want.)
Synonyms
See also

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch want, from Old Dutch *want, from Proto-Germanic *wantuz.

Noun

want f ‎(plural wanten, diminutive wantje n)

  1. mitten

Etymology 3

From Middle Dutch want, gewant, from Old Dutch *giwant, from Proto-Germanic *gawandą, from the root of winden.

Noun

want n ‎(plural wanten, diminutive wantje n)

  1. shroud, sideways support for a mast.

Etymology 4

Verb

want

  1. second- and third-person singular present indicative of wannen
  2. (archaic) plural imperative of wannen

Old High German

Noun

want f

  1. wall

Descendants

Tocharian A

Etymology

From Proto-Tocharian *w'entë, from Post-PIE *h₂weh₁ntos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁nts, from *h₂weh₁- ‎(“to blow”) (compare English wind, Latin ventus). Compare Tocharian B yente.

Noun

want

  1. wind

Etymology

From Middle English wanten ‎(“to lack”), from Old Norse vanta ‎(“to lack”), from Proto-Germanic *wanatōną ‎(“to be wanting, lack”), from *wanô ‎(“lack, deficiency”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- ‎(“empty”). Cognate with Middle High German wan ‎(“not full, empty”), Middle Dutch wan ‎(“empty, poor”), Old English wana ‎(“want, lack, absence, deficiency”), Latin vanus ‎(“empty”). See wan, wan-.

Pronunciation

  • (UK, New Zealand, Australia) enPR: wŏnt, IPA(key): /wɒnt/
  • Rhymes: -ɒnt
  • (US) IPA(key): /wɑnt/ also sometimes enPR: wŭnt, wônt, IPA(key): /wʌnt/, /wɔnt/
  • (New Zealand, non-standard) IPA(key): /wʌnt/
  • (some accents) enPR: wônt, IPA(key): /wɔːnt/[1]
  • Rhymes: -ɔːnt
  • Homophone: wont

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