# want

Pronunciation: US say "WAHNT" /wɑnt/; UK say "WONT" /wɒnt/

## Verb

1. To wish for, desire, or feel a need for something.
   - Simple: To wish to have or do something, or to feel that you need it.
   - _She wants a bigger apartment._
   - _We want you to stay for dinner._
2. To be advised to do something, close to 'should' or 'ought', usually in the second person and often in the future. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used, often in 'you'll want to', to say that someone should do something.
   - _You'll want to save your work before restarting._
   - _You want to be careful on that ice._
3. To wish to see, have the presence of, or do business with someone; of the police, to seek.
   - Simple: To wish to see or deal with someone, or to be looking for them, as the police do.
   - _Your father and I want you downstairs this minute, young man._
   - _The manager wants you in her office before the meeting starts, so don't keep her waiting._
5. To desire someone romantically or, especially, sexually.
   - Simple: To be attracted to someone and wish to be with them romantically or sexually.
   - _It was obvious that he wanted her._
   - _They want each other and everyone can see it._
8. To need or lack something, especially something that should be done or supplied ('The lawn wants cutting'; 'The job wants patience'). *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To need something, or need something done, as in the car wants washing.
   - _The lawn badly wants cutting before the guests arrive on Saturday._
   - _These boots want mending._
9. Of an impersonal force, to make something undesirable easy or tempting, as if with intent.
   - Simple: Used about a thing that seems to push you toward something bad, as if on purpose.
   - _The slot machine wants you to try just once more._
   - _These apps want you to keep scrolling all night._

## Noun

4. A desire or need, or something that is desired or needed ('our wants and needs').
   - Simple: Something you wish for or need, as in 'all our wants and needs'.
   - _His wants were simple: good food and a comfortable bed._
   - _Each want, once satisfied, breeds another._
6. A lack, absence, or deficiency, often with 'of'.
   - Simple: A lack of something, often used with 'of'.
   - _The project failed through want of planning._
   - _The crops died for want of rain._
7. The condition of poverty or destitution.
   - Simple: The state of being very poor.
   - _They knew hunger and want as children._
   - _After the flood, many villagers lived in want._

## Verb

10. To lack or be without something, or to be lacking, deficient, or absent. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To have too little or none of something, or to be missing.
11. To be destitute or in need. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To be very poor and in need.
   - _Better to give than to let a neighbor want._
   - _As long as I have a job, my children will never want._
12. To lack something and be able or willing to do without it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To not have something and be able or willing to go without it.

## Other meanings

- (noun) In mining, a depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the later deposits were laid down.
- (noun) A mole, the small burrowing animal.

## Origin

Old Norse vanta ("to lack") gave Middle English wanten ("to lack, to need"). It goes back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to be wanting, lack," and Old English wana ("want, lack, deficiency") and Latin vanus ("empty") are related.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/want (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).