Want definition
Say what you want, but be tactful.
Lives in want.
You want to be careful on the ice.
To want to travel.
To want for money.
A person of few wants and needs.
It wants twelve minutes of midnight.
She wants a glass of water. They want to leave.
I want you to clean your room.
You are wanted by your office.
Call me daily if you want.
What do you want to eat? I want you to leave. I never wanted to go back to live with my mother. I want to be an astronaut when I'm older. I don't want him to marry Gloria, I want him to marry me! What do you want from me? Do you want anything from the shops?
This wants attending to.
Wanted on the phone.
Wanted by the police.
“Waste not, want not”
There wants but his approval.
To suffer from want of adequate care.
There was something wanting in the play.
That chair wants fixing.
Stayed home for want of anything better to do.
To want adventure.
An example of want is to desire a cup of coffee.
An example of want is a latte with an extra shot of espresso after a tiring day.
The fugitive is wanted by the police.
To live in want.
- to want to get, go, or come in (or out, off, etc.)
Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
Origin of want
- Middle English wanten to be lacking from Old Norse vanta euə- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English wanten (“to lack"), from Old Norse vanta (“to lack"), from Proto-Germanic *wanatōnÄ… (“to be wanting, lack"), from *wanô (“lack, deficiency"), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)wAn-, *wān- (“empty"). Cognate with Middle High German wan (“not full, empty"), Middle Dutch wan (“empty, poor"), Old English wana (“want, lack, absence, deficiency"), Latin vanus (“empty"). See wan.
From Wiktionary