Want1, n.
n. [A-S. wand, wandwyrpe, wondweorp, a mole; Prov. Ger. wond, wonne, Norw. vond, Prov. Sw. hvann.] A mole. [Obs.] She hath the ears of a want. Lyly.
4 entries under this word
Want
Want2, n.
(wawnt) (Synop., § 130), n. [See infra.] 1. The state of not having; a being without any thing; destitution; absence or scarcity of what is needed or desired; deficiency; lack; as, a want of power or knowledge for any purpose; want of food and clothing. And me, his parent, would full soon devour For want of other prey. Milton. From having wishes in consequence of our wants, we often feel wants in consequence of our wishes. Rambler. Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and more saucy. Franklin. 2. In a general sense, destitution; poverty; penury; indigence. Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches, as to conceive how others can be in want. Swift. 3. That which is needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt; what is not possessed, and is necessary for use or pleasure. Habitual superfluities become actual wants. Paley. Syn.—Indigence; deficiency; defect; destitution; lack; failure; dearth; scarcity; scarceness. See INDIGENCE.
Want3, v. t.
(wawnt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. WANTED; p. pr. & vb. n. WANTING.]
Sense 1. To be without; to be destitute of; not to have; to lack; as, to want knowledge; to want judgment; to want learning; to want food and clothing;—used impersonally; as, it wants ten minutes of four.
Nor think, though men were none, That heaven would want spectators, God want praise. Milton. The unhappy never want enemies. Richardson.
Sense 2. To have occasion for, as useful, proper, or requisite; to require; to need; as, in winter we want a fire; in summer we want cooling breezes.
Sense 3. To feel need of; to wish or long for; to desire; to crave. “What wants my son?” Addison.
Sense 4. To fall short in; to be lacking in respect of, or to the amount of; to lack.
Another will say it [the English tongue] wanteth grammar. Say, truly, it hath that praise, that it wants not grammar; for grammar it might have, but needs it not. Sidney. They that want honesty, want any thing. Beau. & Fl.
Want4, v. i.
v. i. [Icel. vanta, to be wanting, allied to A-S. wanian, Eng. wane, q. v.]
Sense 1. To be deficient or lacking; to fail; not to be sufficient; to fall short.
As in bodies, thus in souls, we find What wants in blood and spirits, swelled with wind. Pope.
No time shall find me wanting to my truth. Dryden.
Sense 2. To be missed; not to be present; as, the jury was full, wanting one.
Twelve, wanting one, he slew. Dryden.
Sense 3. To omit; to neglect; to fail. “As Homer wanted not to express, both in his Iliad and Odyssey.” Milton.