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   want

   /wänt/

   verb

   • 1. have a desire to possess or do (something); wish for: "I want an apple" Similar desirewish forhope forfancyhave a fancy fortake a fancy tohave an inclination forcare forlikeset one's heart onlong foryearn forpine forsigh forcravehanker afterhunger forthirst forlust aftercry out forbe desperate foritch forcovetneedbe bent oninformal:have a yen forbe dying for
   • ▪ wish to consult or speak to (someone): "Tony wants me in the studio"
   • ▪ (of the police) desire to question or apprehend (a suspected criminal): "he is wanted by the police in connection with an arms theft"
   • ▪ desire (someone) sexually: "I've wanted you since the first moment I saw you"
   • ▪ desire to be in or out of a particular place or situation: informal North American "if anyone wants out, there's the door"
   • 2. ought, should, or need to do something: informal "you don't want to believe everything you hear" Similar shouldoughtneedmust
   • ▪ (of a thing) require to be attended to in a specified way: British "the wheel wants greasing" Similar needbe/stand in need ofrequiredemandcry out for
   • 3. lack or be short of something desirable or essential: literary "you shall want for nothing while you are with me"
   • ▪ (chiefly used in expressions of time) be short of or lack (a specified amount or thing): archaic "it wanted twenty minutes to midnight"

   noun

   • 1. a lack or deficiency of something: "Victorian houses which are in want of repair" Similar lackabsencenonexistenceunavailabilitydearthdeficiencyinadequacyinsufficiencypaucityshortageshortfallshortnessscarcityscarcenessscantinessundersupplydeficitrare:exiguityOpposite abundancepresence
   • ▪ the state of being poor and in need of essentials; poverty: "freedom from want" Similar needneedinessausterityprivationdeprivationpovertyimpoverishmentimpecuniousnessimpecuniositypennilessnesspauperismpenurydestitutionfaminedroughtindigenceOpposite wealthplenty
   • 2. a desire for something: "the expression of our wants and desires" Similar wishdesiredemandlongingyearningfancycravinghankeringneedrequirementnecessityessentialrequisiteinformal:yen

   Word Origin Middle English: the noun from Old Norse vant, neuter of vanr ‘lacking’; the verb from Old Norse vanta‘be lacking’. The original notion of ‘lack’ was early extended to ‘need’ and from this developed the sense ‘desire’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. wanter noun

   Scrabble Points: 7

   • W

     4

   • A

     1

   • N

     1

   • T

     1

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