want ad
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of want ad
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was a want ad in the newspaper that started Storen’s pro path.
From Washington Times ● May 7, 2020
It’s not an actual want ad, but it might as well be one.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2016
It all started with a want ad in a newspaper for ice cream truck drivers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2016
When the Staten Island Yankees begin their season on Friday, Jane M. Rogers, the team’s president and general manager, may reflect on the day she answered a want ad for a secretary 16 years ago.
From New York Times ● Jun. 12, 2015
I paid the same prices as Jim, but I would have done just as badly at three times as much, and might just as well have saved money buying second-hand through a want "ad."
From Cupid's Middleman by Edward B. Lent
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
