Link Centre Dictionary

lack

US/læk/ common
noun (1) verb (1)

noun

1.

the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable

  • “there is a serious lack of insight into the problem”
  • “water is the critical deficiency in desert regions”
  • “for want of a nail the shoe was lost”
Synonyms

verb

1.

be without

  • “This soup lacks salt”
  • “There is something missing in my jewellery box!”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

From Middle English lack, lakke, lak, from Old English *læc (“deficiency, lack, want”), from Proto-West Germanic *lak, from Proto-Germanic *laką, *lakaz (“slackness”), from Proto-Germanic *lakaz (“limp, slack, loose, low”), related to *lak(k)ōną (“to blame, reproach”), from Proto-Indo-European *lok-néh₂-. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Lak (“lack”), Middle Low German lack, lak (“lack”), Dutch lak (“lack, deficiency, calumny”), Icelandic lakur (“lacking”). Related also to Middle Dutch laken (“to blame, lack”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English carence (“absence, lack”), from Old French carence.

Phrases

  • for lack of
  • for lack of trying
  • lack of sleep

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Word family

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.