want
to feel a need or a desire for; wish for: to want one's dinner; always wanting something new.
to wish, need, crave, demand, or desire (often followed by an infinitive): I want to see you.She wants to be notified.
to be without or be deficient in: to want judgment; to want knowledge.
to fall short by (a specified amount): The sum collected wants but a few dollars of the desired amount.
to require or need: The house wants painting.
to feel inclined; wish; like (often followed by to): We can stay home if you want.
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.
to have need (usually followed by for): If you want for anything, let him know.
to be in a state of destitution, need, or poverty: She would never allow her parents to want.
to be lacking or absent, as a part or thing necessary to completeness: All that wants is his signature.
something wanted or needed; necessity: My wants are few.
something desired, demanded, or required: a person of childish, capricious wants.
absence or deficiency of something desirable or requisite; lack: plants dying for want of rain.
the state of being without something desired or needed; need: to be in want of an assistant.
the state of being without the necessaries of life; destitution; poverty: a country where want is virtually unknown.
a sense of lack or need of something: to feel a vague want.
Idioms about want
want in / out, Chiefly Midland.
to desire to enter or leave: The cat wants in.
Informal. to desire acceptance in or release from something specified: I talked with Louie about our plan, and he wants in.
Origin of want
1Other words for want
1 | require, crave |
3 | need |
11 | desideratum |
13 | dearth, scarcity, inadequacy, insufficiency, paucity, scarceness, meagerness |
15 | privation, penury, indigence |
Other words from want
- wanter, noun
- wantless, adjective
- want·less·ness, noun
- self-want, noun
- un·want·ed, adjective
Words that may be confused with want
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for want (1 of 2)
/ (wɒnt) /
(tr) to feel a need or longing for: I 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 of: lying 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 of: you'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
the act or an instance of wanting
anything that is needed, desired, or lacked: to supply someone's wants
a lack, shortage, or absence: for want of common sense
the state of being in need; destitution: the state should help those in want
a sense of lack; craving
Origin of want
1Derived forms of want
- wanter, noun
British Dictionary definitions for want (2 of 2)
/ (wɒnt) /
English dialect a mole
Origin of want
2Collins 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 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.
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