Link Centre Dictionary

want

UK/wɒnt/ US/wɑnt/ very common uk
verb (5) noun (4)

verb

1.

feel or have a desire for; want strongly

  • “I want to go home now”
  • “I want my own room”
Synonyms
2.

have need of

  • “This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner”
Synonyms
3.

wish or demand the presence of

  • “I want you here at noon!”
4.

hunt or look for; want for a particular reason

  • “Your former neighbor is wanted by the FBI”
  • “Uncle Sam wants you”
5.

be without, lack; be deficient in

  • “want courtesy”
  • “want the strength to go on living”
  • “flood victims wanting food and shelter”

noun

1.
2.

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
3.

anything that is necessary but lacking

  • “he had sufficient means to meet his simple needs”
  • “I tried to supply his wants”
Synonyms
4.

a specific feeling of desire

  • “he got his wish”
  • “he was above all wishing and desire”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English wanten (“to lack, to need”), from Old Norse vanta (“to lack”), from Proto-Germanic *wanatōną (“to be wanting, lack”), from *wanô (“lack, deficiency”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“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, wan-.

Phrases

  • all one wants
  • do not want
  • do want
  • for want of
  • I don't want it
  • I don't want to buy anything
  • I don't want to talk about it
  • I want doesn't get
  • I want my money back
  • want ad
  • want must be one's master

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

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.