want



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:


Want \Want\, v. i. [Icel. vanta to be wanting. See Want to
   lack.]
   [1913 Webster]
   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.
      [1913 Webster]

            You have a gift, sir (thank your education),
            Will never let you want.              --B. Jonson.
      [1913 Webster]

            For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find
            What wants in blood and spirits, swelled with wind.
                                                  --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: Want was formerly used impersonally with an indirect
         object. "Him wanted audience." --Chaucer.
         [1913 Webster]
.



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:


Want \Want\ (277), n. [Originally an adj., from Icel. vant,
   neuter of vanr lacking, deficient. [root]139. See Wane, v.
   i.]
   [1913 Webster]
   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            And me, his parent, would full soon devour
            For want of other prey.               --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

            From having wishes in consequence of our wants, we
            often feel wants in consequence of our wishes.
                                                  --Rambler.
      [1913 Webster]

            Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and more saucy.
                                                  --Franklin.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Specifically, absence or lack of necessaries; destitution;
      poverty; penury; indigence; need.
      [1913 Webster]

            Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches,
            as to conceive how others can be in want. --Swift.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            Habitual superfluities become actual wants. --Paley.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Mining) A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before
      the subsequent deposition took place. [Eng.]
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Indigence; deficiency; defect; destitution; lack;
        failure; dearth; scarceness.
        [1913 Webster]
.



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:


Want \Want\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wanted; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Wanting.]
   [1913 Webster]
   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            They that want honesty, want anything. --Beau. & Fl.
      [1913 Webster]

            Nor think, though men were none,
            That heaven would want spectators, God want praise.
                                                  --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

            The unhappy never want enemies.       --Richardson.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To feel need of; to wish or long for; to desire; to crave.
      " What wants my son?" --Addison.
      [1913 Webster]

            I want to speak to you about something. --A.
                                                  Trollope.
      [1913 Webster]
.



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:


Wa'n't \Wa'n't\
   A colloquial contraction of was not.
   [1913 Webster]














Feedback Form