Library / English Dictionary

WANT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A specific feeling of desire

Example:

he was above all wishing and desire

Synonyms:

want; wish; wishing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("want" is a kind of...):

desire (the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "want"):

velleity (a mere wish, unaccompanied by effort to obtain)

Derivation:

want (wish or demand the presence of)

want (feel or have a desire for; want strongly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Anything that is necessary but lacking

Example:

I tried to supply his wants

Synonyms:

need; want

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("want" is a kind of...):

essential; necessary; necessity; requirement; requisite (anything indispensable)

Derivation:

want (have need of)

want (be without, lack; be deficient in)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The state of needing something that is absent or unavailable

Example:

for want of a nail the shoe was lost

Synonyms:

deficiency; lack; want

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("want" is a kind of...):

demand; need (a condition requiring relief)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "want"):

absence (the state of being absent)

dearth; famine; shortage (an acute insufficiency)

deficit (a deficiency or failure in neurological or mental functioning)

mineral deficiency (lack of a mineral micronutrient that is essential for normal nutrition or metabolism)

shortness (the condition of being short of something)

stringency; tightness (a state occasioned by scarcity of money and a shortage of credit)

Derivation:

want (have need of)

want (be without, lack; be deficient in)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A state of extreme poverty

Synonyms:

deprivation; neediness; privation; want

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("want" is a kind of...):

impoverishment; poorness; poverty (the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions)

Derivation:

want (be without, lack; be deficient in)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Wish or demand the presence of

Example:

I want you here at noon!

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "want" is one way to...):

demand (request urgently and forcefully)

Verb group:

want (hunt or look for; want for a particular reason)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want him to write the letter

Derivation:

want (a specific feeling of desire)

wanter (a person who wants or needs something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Have need of

Example:

This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner

Synonyms:

need; require; want

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "want" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "want"):

cry (demand immediate action)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence examples:

They want more bread

They want him to write the letter

They want to move

Derivation:

wanter (a person who wants or needs something)

want (the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable)

want (anything that is necessary but lacking)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Hunt or look for; want for a particular reason

Example:

Uncle Sam wants you

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "want" is one way to...):

look for; search; seek (try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of)

Verb group:

want (wish or demand the presence of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

wanter (a person who wants or needs something)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Feel or have a desire for; want strongly

Example:

I want my own room

Synonyms:

desire; want

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "want"):

seek (try to get or reach)

hanker; long; yearn (desire strongly or persistently)

lech after; lust after (have a strong sexual desire for)

begrudge; envy (be envious of; set one's heart on)

feel like (have an inclination for something or some activity)

ambition (have as one's ambition)

like (want to have)

itch; spoil (have a strong desire or urge to do something)

care; like; wish (prefer or wish to do something)

wish; wish well (feel or express a desire or hope concerning the future or fortune of)

wish (hope for; have a wish)

hope (be optimistic; be full of hope; have hopes)

miss (feel or suffer from the lack of)

fancy; go for; take to (have a fancy or particular liking or desire for)

crave; hunger; lust; starve; thirst (have a craving, appetite, or great desire for)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They want him to write the letter

Derivation:

want (a specific feeling of desire)

wanter (a person who wants or needs something)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Be without, lack; be deficient in

Example:

flood victims wanting food and shelter

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "want" is one way to...):

lack; miss (be without)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

want (anything that is necessary but lacking)

want (the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable)

want (a state of extreme poverty)

wanter (a person who wants or needs something)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The institution never flagged for want of a story, I am certain; and the wine lasted out almost as well as the matter.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“They’re weak as water, if you want to know,” came the reply from one of the men.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

"God knows I don't want to kill him or have him killed," Scott answered, putting away the revolver.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

But why do you follow me? What do you want?

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This drug is wanted bitter bad, sir, whatever for.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“You may go below, my man. Hands will want supper.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“Ay, and what does he want?” asked he, in no very amiable voice.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The material for a feast was ever at hand in days when, if there was grim want in the cottage, there was at least rude plenty in the castle.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

A question about whether an individual has or had pain that kept them from doing things they wanted to do.

(Pain Keeps Me From Doing Things I Want to Do, NCI Thesaurus)