wish
to want; desire; long for (usually followed by an infinitive or a clause): I wish to travel.I wish that it were morning.
to desire (a person or thing) to be (as specified): to wish the problem settled.
to entertain wishes, favorably or otherwise, for: to wish someone well;to wish someone ill.
to bid, as in greeting or leave-taking: to wish someone a good morning.
to request or charge: I wish him to come.
to desire; long; yearn (often followed by for): Mother says I may go if I wish.I wished for a book.
to make a wish: She wished more than she worked.
an act or instance of wishing.
a request or command: I was never forgiven for disregarding my father's wishes.
an expression of a wish, often one of a kindly or courteous nature: to send one's best wishes.
something wished or desired:He got his wish—a new car.
wish on,
to force or impose (usually used in the negative): I wouldn't wish that awful job on my worst enemy.
Also wish upon. to make a wish using some object as a magical talisman: to wish on a star.
Origin of wish
1Other words for wish
Other words from wish
- wisher, noun
- wishless, adjective
- in·ter·wish, verb (used with object), noun
- outwish, verb (used with object)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use wish in a sentence
At least that's what one well-wisher who met Kate Middleton as she went walkabout today thinks.
She told one well-wisher who asked that her baby had been kicking "very much".
No well-wisher of India, no patriot dare look upon the impending destruction of the hand-loom weaver with equanimity.
Third class in Indian railways | Mahatma Gandhi"I come to you from a well-wisher," he went on in oily tones, without lifting his eyes.
The Empty House And Other Ghost Stories | Algernon BlackwoodFor is he not a well-wisher of the French Revolution, a Jacobin, and therefore in that one act guilty of all?
Life of Robert Burns | Thomas Carlyle
I am a well wisher to the Company, and also to America; but death to an American is more desirable than slavery.
Tea Leaves | VariousHe was conscious of a willingness to consider it himself, as a friend of the family and a well-wisher of Chubbins.
Bunker Bean | Harry Leon Wilson
British Dictionary definitions for wish
/ (wɪʃ) /
(when tr, takes a clause as object or an infinitive; when intr, often foll by for) to want or desire (something, often that which cannot be or is not the case): I wish I lived in Italy; to wish for peace
(tr) to feel or express a desire or hope concerning the future or fortune of: I wish you well
(tr) to desire or prefer to be as specified
(tr) to greet as specified; bid: he wished us good afternoon
(tr) formal to order politely: I wish you to come at three o'clock
the act of wishing; the expression of some desire or mental inclination: to make a wish
something desired or wished for: he got his wish
(usually plural) expressed hopes or desire, esp for someone's welfare, health, etc
(often plural) formal a polite order or request
Origin of wish
1- See also wish on
Derived forms of wish
- wisher, noun
- wishless, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with wish
In addition to the idiom beginning with wish
- wish on
also see:
- if wishes were horses
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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