want

Syllabification: (want)

Pronunciation: /wänt, wônt/

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Definition of want

verb

1 [with object] have a desire to possess or do (something); wish for:I want an apple [with infinitive]:we want to go to the beach [with object and infinitive]:she wanted me to go to her room [no object]:I’ll give you a lift into town if you want
wish to consult or speak to (someone):Tony wants me in the studio
(usually be wanted) (of the police) desire to question or apprehend (a suspected criminal):he is wanted by the police in connection with an arms theft
desire (someone) sexually:I’ve wanted you since the first moment I saw you
[with present participle] informal, chiefly British (of a thing) require to be attended to in a specified way:the wheel wants greasing
[with infinitive] informal ought, should, or need to do something:you don’t want to believe everything you hear
[no object] (want in/into/out/away) informal desire to be in or out of a particular place or situation:if anyone wants out, there’s the door

2 [no object] chiefly archaic lack or be short of something desirable or essential:you shall want for nothing while you are with me
[with object] (chiefly used in expressions of time) be short of or lack (a specified amount or thing):it wanted twenty minutes to midnight it wants a few minutes of five o’clock

noun

1chiefly archaic a lack or deficiency of something:Victorian houses which are in want of repair it won’t be through want of trying
the state of being poor and in need of essentials; poverty:freedom from want

2a desire for something:the expression of our wants and desires

Phrases

for want of: because of a lack of (something):for want of a better location we ate our picnic lunch in the cemetery

Origin:

Middle English: the noun from Old Norse vant, neuter of vanr 'lacking'; the verb from Old Norse vanta 'be lacking.' The original notion of “lack” was early extended to “need,” and from this developed the sense 'desire'

want in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of want in the British & World English dictionary

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want

verb

noun

Phrases

for want of

Origin:

want in other Oxford dictionaries

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