want

[wont, wawnt] /wɒnt, wɔnt/
verb (used with object)
1.
to feel a need or a desire for; wish for:
to want one's dinner; always wanting something new.
2.
to wish, need, crave, demand, or desire (often followed by an infinitive):
I want to see you. She wants to be notified.
3.
to be without or be deficient in:
to want judgment; to want knowledge.
4.
to fall short by (a specified amount):
The sum collected wants but a few dollars of the desired amount.
5.
to require or need:
The house wants painting.
verb (used without object)
6.
to feel inclined; wish; like (often followed by to):
We can stay home if you want.
7.
to be deficient by the absence of some part or thing, or to feel or have a need (sometimes followed by for):
He did not want for abilities.
8.
to have need (usually followed by for):
If you want for anything, let him know.
9.
to be in a state of destitution, need, or poverty:
She would never allow her parents to want.
10.
to be lacking or absent, as a part or thing necessary to completeness:
All that wants is his signature.
noun
11.
something wanted or needed; necessity:
My wants are few.
12.
something desired, demanded, or required:
a person of childish, capricious wants.
13.
absence or deficiency of something desirable or requisite; lack:
plants dying for want of rain.
14.
the state of being without something desired or needed; need:
to be in want of an assistant.
15.
the state of being without the necessaries of life; destitution; poverty:
a country where want is virtually unknown.
16.
a sense of lack or need of something:
to feel a vague want.
Idioms
17.
want in / out, Chiefly Midland.
  1. to desire to enter or leave:
    The cat wants in.
  2. Informal. to desire acceptance in or release from something specified:
    I talked with Louie about our plan, and he wants in.
Origin
1150-1200; Middle English wante < Old Norse vanta to lack
Related forms
wanter, noun
wantless, adjective
wantlessness, noun
self-want, noun
unwanted, adjective
Can be confused
unwanted, unwonted.
want, wont.
Synonyms
1. require, crave. See wish. 3. need. See lack. 11. desideratum. 13. dearth, scarcity, scarceness, inadequacy, insufficiency, paucity, meagerness. 15. privation, penury, indigence. See poverty.
Examples from the web for want
  • They want to work, but they don't want work to be their life.
  • So, what do people want? They want buying books to be fun.
  • Reward truth-telling, especially when it's not what you want to hear.
  • There is no one so rich that he does not still want something.
  • No greatness in the manner can effectually compensate for the want of proper dimensions.
  • If it satisfies one want, it doubles and trebles that want another way.
  • His ambition preys upon itself, for want of objects which it can consider worthy of exertion.
  • If you want to know what a ducat is worth try to borrow one.
  • But it has a fund of good sense and direct obvious meaning which compensates for the want of more showy qualities.
  • He who buys what he don't want will sell what he does want.
British Dictionary definitions for want

want1

/wɒnt/
verb
1.
(transitive) to feel a need or longing for: I want a new hat
2.
(when transitive, may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to wish, need, or desire (something or to do something): he wants to go home
3.
(intransitive) usually used with a negative and often foll by for. to be lacking or deficient (in something necessary or desirable): the child wants for nothing
4.
(transitive) to feel the absence of: lying on the ground makes me want my bed
5.
(transitive) to fall short by (a specified amount)
6.
(transitive) (mainly Brit) to have need of or require (doing or being something): your shoes want cleaning
7.
(intransitive) to be destitute
8.
(transitive; often passive) to seek or request the presence of: you're wanted upstairs
9.
(intransitive) to be absent
10.
(transitive; takes an infinitive) (informal) should or ought (to do something): you don't want to go out so late
11.
(informal) want in, to wish to be included in a venture
12.
(informal) want out, to wish to be excluded from a venture
noun
13.
the act or an instance of wanting
14.
anything that is needed, desired, or lacked: to supply someone's wants
15.
a lack, shortage, or absence: for want of common sense
16.
the state of being in need; destitution: the state should help those in want
17.
a sense of lack; craving
Derived Forms
wanter, noun
Word Origin
C12 (vb, in the sense: it is lacking), C13 (n): from Old Norse vanta to be deficient; related to Old English wanian to wane

want2

/wɒnt/
noun
1.
(English, dialect) a mole
Word Origin
Old English wand
Word Origin and History for want
v.

c.1200, "to be lacking," from Old Norse vanta "to lack, want," earlier *wanaton, from Proto-Germanic *wanen, from PIE *we-no-, from root *eue- "to leave, abandon, give out" (see vain). The meaning "desire, wish for" is first recorded 1706. Related: wanted; wanting.

n.

c.1300, "deficiency, shortage," from Old Norse vant, neuter of vanr "wanting, deficient;" related to Old English wanian "to diminish" (see wane). Phrase for want of is recorded from c.1400. Meaning "state of destitution" is recorded from mid-14c. Newspaper want ad is recorded from 1897. Middle English had wantsum (c.1200) "in want, deprived of," literally "want-some."

Idioms and Phrases with want

want

also see:
waste not, want not