- Want
- 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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.