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want in

Variant of want

transitive verb

  1. to have too little of; be deficient in; lack
  2. to be short by (a specified amount): it wants twelve minutes of midnight
  3. to feel the need of; long for; crave: to want adventure
  4. to desire; wish or long: followed by the infinitive: to want to travel
    1. to wish to see or speak with (someone): wanted on the phone
    2. to wish to apprehend, as for questioning or arrest: wanted by the police
  5. Chiefly Brit. to require; need: this wants attending to

intransitive verb

  1. to have a need or lack: usually with for: to want for money
  2. to lack the necessities of life; be destitute or impoverished: “Waste not, want not”
  3. Rare to be lacking or missing for completeness or a certain result: there wants but his approval

noun

  1. the state or fact of lacking, or having too little of, something needed or desired; scarcity; shortage; lack: to suffer from want of adequate care
  2. a lack of the necessities of life; poverty; destitution: to live in want
  3. a wish or desire for something; craving
  4. something needed or desired but lacking; need

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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