want
want Lexical Profile
want Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To have a desire to possess or do something; to wish for.
"She wants to pursue a graduate degree in environmental science next autumn."
To seek or request the presence or apprehension of someone (often used in the passive).
"You are wanted on the telephone by the regional director."
To lack or be short of something required or essential.
"The scholarship ensured that the talented student would never want for textbooks or laboratory supplies."
British To ought to or need to do something; to require being done (informal).
"You want to be careful when driving along those narrow mountain roads in the winter."
• noun
A desire or wish for something.
"The company designed its new product line to meet the changing wants and needs of consumers."
A lack, deficiency, or scarcity of something necessary or desirable.
"The garden plants withered for want of water during the prolonged drought."
The state of being poor and in need of basic necessities; destitution.
"Charitable organizations worked tirelessly to relieve families living in extreme want."
Word Nuance & Usage
While 'want' in everyday modern usage primarily expresses a desire or wish, in formal or literary contexts (especially as a noun in phrases like 'for want of') it retains its older meaning of a lack or deficiency.
• Rhymes for want
Word Origin & Etymology
From Middle English wanten ('to lack, be deficient'), borrowed from Old Norse vanta ('to lack, need'), which derives from the Proto-Germanic root *wanatōną ('to be lacking').