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 leave [no object]:I’ll give you a lift into town if you want
• wish to speak to (someone):Tony wants me in the studio
• (be wanted) (of a suspected criminal) be sought by the police for questioning: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
• [no object] (want in/into/out) informal, chiefly North American desire to be in or out of a particular place or situation:if anyone wants out, there’s the door

• 2 [with infinitive] informal should or need to do something:you don’t want to believe everything you hear
• [with present participle] chiefly British (of a thing) require to be attended to in a specified way:the wheel wants greasing

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

noun

• 1 [mass noun] a lack or deficiency of something:Victorian houses which are in want of repair for want of a better location we ate our picnic in the cemetery
• 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