GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
last match results
Found 3 definitions
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Want (277), n. [Originally an adj., from Icel. vant, neuter of vanr lacking, deficient. √139. See Wane, v. i.]
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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.”
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And me, his parent, would full soon devour
For want of other prey. Milton.
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From having wishes in consequence of our wants, we often feel wants in consequence of our wishes. Rambler.
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Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and more saucy. Franklin.
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2. Specifically, absence or lack of necessaries; destitution; poverty; penury; indigence; need.
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Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches, as to conceive how others can be in want. Swift.
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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.
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Habitual superfluities become actual wants. Paley.
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4. (Mining) A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place. [Eng.]
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Syn. -- Indigence; deficiency; defect; destitution; lack; failure; dearth; scarceness.
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Want, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wanted; p. pr. & vb. n. Wanting.]
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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.”
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They that want honesty, want anything. Beau. & Fl.
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Nor think, though men were none,
That heaven would want spectators, God want praise. Milton.
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The unhappy never want enemies. Richardson.
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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”.
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3. To feel need of; to wish or long for; to desire; to crave. “ What wants my son?” Addison.
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I want to speak to you about something. A. Trollope.
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Want, v. i. [Icel. vanta to be wanting. See Want to lack.]
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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”.
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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.
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2. To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.
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You have a gift, sir (thank your education),
Will never let you want. B. Jonson.
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For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find
What wants in blood and spirits, swelled with wind. Pope.
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☞ Want was formerly used impersonally with an indirect object. “Him wanted audience.” Chaucer.
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