lack
lack (lak)
noun
- the fact or condition of not having enough; shortage; deficiency
- the fact or condition of not having any; complete absence
- the thing that is lacking or needed
Etymology: early ME lac < or akin to MLowG & MDu lak, lack: for IE base see leak
intransitive verb
- to be wanting or missing; show a deficiency
- to be short: with in, for, or, now rarely, of
- to be in need
Etymology: ME lacen < MDu laken, to be wanting
transitive verb
- to be deficient in or entirely without
- to fall short by lacking one ounce of being a pound
- Obsolete to need; require
lack
n.
The state of being lacking
destitution, absence, need, dearth, shortage, paucity, deprivation, deficiency, deficit, scarcity, exiguity, exigency, insufficiency, inadequacy, privation, poverty, distress, scantiness. Antonyms
plenty*, sufficiency, abundance. That which is lacking
need, decrease, want, loss, depletion, shrinkage, shortage, shortness, short fall, shortcoming, abridgment, defect, meagerness, scantiness, slightness, inferiority, paucity, stint, curtailment, retrenchment, reduction; see also necessity 2.Antonyms
wealth*, overflow, satisfaction.
lack
v.
lack implies an absence or insufficiency of something essential or desired she lacks experience; want (in this sense, chiefly British) and need stress the urgency of supplying what is lacking this matter needs, or wants, immediate attention; require emphasizes even more strongly imperative need, connoting that what is needed is indispensable his work requires great powers of concentration
Object
- confidence: Many lacked confidence in the strength of their case.
- capacity: In cases of doubt, healthcare professionals should make every effort to decide whether the patient lacks capacity.
Converse of object
- perceive: Finally, the table points to a perceived lack of opportunities for women.
- bemoan: The club currently lie in 15th place, but manager and director Jeff King has bemoaned the lack of support the club has received.
- cite: Some cite lack the bill's passage this type of.
Converse of subject
- hamper: To date, the resolution of this problem has been hampered by a lack of reliable experimental data at a large scale.
- frustrate: NPAs are frustrated by the lack of legislation to enable them to secure proper management of the commons.
- hinder: Its practical application, however, is hindered by the lack of information on the complex relationship between the building and its urban environment.
Adjective modifier
- apparent: There is an apparent lack of genuine leadership on Climate Change.
- distinct: There is a distinct lack of traffic lights at the dozens of city center crossroads.
- relative: The relative lack of expertise on the other side may appear to present you with an advantage.
- seeming: Fourthly we have seeming lack of compassion for the suffering.
Modifies a noun
- luster: Now I wonder why weren't the lack luster Tories queuing up to talk about that to every available newspaper and TV Company?
- credibility: I did not find that persons post to lack credibility.
Preposition: of
- clarity: Again, lack of political clarity was the major handicap.
- confidence: Our greatest enemy will be our own lack of faith in ourselves, our own lack of confidence.
- understanding: A lack of understanding about the scope of the ' justification ' defense in DDA cases.
- awareness: For example, women who are deaf face a lack of awareness by health staff of how to communicate with them.
- knowledge: There is, however, a lack of knowledge of mountain ecosystems.
- sleep: Over time I did improve - lack of sleep probably helped too.
Vixere fortes anteAgamemnona Multi; sed omnes illacrimabiles Urgentur ignotique longa Nocte, carent quia vate sacro. Many brave men lived before Agamemnon's time; but theyare all unmourned and unknown, covered by the long night, because they lack their sacred poet.
Browse dictionary entries near lack
- laciniate
- lacing
- laciness
- lacily
- lachrymose
- lachrymatory
- lachrymator
- lachrymal
- Lachine
- Lachesis
- lack-
- lackadaisical
- lackaday
- lackey
- lacking
- lackluster
- Laclos
- LACNIC
- Laconia
- laconic
