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want

[wont, wawnt]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR want ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

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RELATED WORDS

need, wish, require, prefer, crave, choose, demand, longing, requirement, hankering, yen, hunger, thirst, yearning, fancy, necessity, appetite, craving, privation, defect

Idioms

    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 of want

1150–1200; Middle English wante < Old Norse vanta to lack
Related formswant·er, nounwant·less, adjectivewant·less·ness, nounself-want, nounun·want·ed, adjective
Can be confusedunwanted unwontedwant wont

Synonyms for want

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR want ON THESAURUS.COM
1. require, crave. 3. need. 11. desideratum. 13. dearth, scarcity, scarceness, inadequacy, insufficiency, paucity, meagerness. 15. privation, penury, indigence.

Synonym study

1. See wish. 3. See lack. 15. See poverty.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for want

Contemporary Examples of want

Historical Examples of want

British Dictionary definitions for want

want

1

verb

(tr) to feel a need or longing forI want a new hat
(when tr, may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to wish, need, or desire (something or to do something)he wants to go home
(intr 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
(tr) to feel the absence oflying on the ground makes me want my bed
(tr) to fall short by (a specified amount)
(tr) mainly British to have need of or require (doing or being something)your shoes want cleaning
(intr) to be destitute
(tr; often passive) to seek or request the presence ofyou're wanted upstairs
(intr) to be absent
(tr; takes an infinitive) informal should or ought (to do something)you don't want to go out so late
want in informal to wish to be included in a venture
want out informal to wish to be excluded from a venture

noun

the act or an instance of wanting
anything that is needed, desired, or lackedto supply someone's wants
a lack, shortage, or absencefor want of common sense
the state of being in need; destitutionthe state should help those in want
a sense of lack; craving
Derived Formswanter, noun

Word Origin for want

C12 (vb, in the sense: it is lacking), C13 (n): from Old Norse vanta to be deficient; related to Old English wanian to wane

want

2

noun

English dialect a mole

Word Origin for want

Old English wand
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
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."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with want

want

In addition to the idioms beginning with want

  • want for nothing
  • want in

also see:

  • waste not, want not
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.