Want Definition
wŏnt, wônt
wanted, wants
verb
wanted, wants
To have a strong feeling to have (something); wish (to possess or do something); desire greatly.
She wants a glass of water. They want to leave.
American Heritage
To have too little of; be deficient in; lack.
Webster's New World
To be short by (a specified amount)
It wants twelve minutes of midnight.
Webster's New World
To lack the necessities of life; be destitute or impoverished.
“Waste not, want not”
Webster's New World
To feel the need of; long for; crave.
To want adventure.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
noun
wants
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.
Webster's New World
A lack of the necessities of life; poverty; destitution.
To live in want.
Webster's New World
A wish or desire for something; craving.
Webster's New World
Something needed or desired but lacking; need.
Webster's New World
A defect of character; a fault.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
pronoun
A personification of want.
Wiktionary
idiom
want in (<i>or</i> out <i>or</i> off, <i>etc.</i>)
- to want to get, go, or come in (or out, off, etc.)
Webster's New World
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Want
- want in (or out or off, etc.)
Origin of Want
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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
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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
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