1. (n.) The state of not having; the condition of being without anything; absence or scarcity of what is needed or desired; deficiency; lack; as, a want of power or knowledge for any purpose; want of food and clothing.

2. (v. i.) Specifically, absence or lack of necessaries; destitution; poverty; penury; indigence; need.

3. (v. i.) That which is needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt; what is not possessed, and is necessary for use or pleasure.

4. (n.) A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place.

5. (v. t.) To be without; to be destitute of, or deficient in; not to have; to lack; as, to want knowledge; to want judgment; to want learning; to want food and clothing.

6. (v. t.) To have occasion for, as useful, proper, or requisite; to require; to need; as, in winter we want a fire; in summer we want cooling breezes.

7. (v. t.) To feel need of; to wish or long for; to desire; to crave.

8. (v. i.) To be absent; to be deficient or lacking; to fail; not to be sufficient; to fall or come short; to lack; -- often used impersonally with of; as, it wants ten minutes of four.

9. (v. i.) To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.

absence ache to adulteration aim at ardor arrearage ask awayness bare cupboard bare necessities bare subsistence be desirous of be dying to be found wanting be hurting for be in want be indicated be inferior be insufficient be pinched be poor become befit beggarliness beggary behoove blank break burn to call for choose choose to claim clamor for collapse come short concupiscence covet crave cry for cry out for curiosity dearly love to dearth decline defalcation default defect defectibility defectiveness deficiency deficit demand demand for deprivation desiderate desideration desideratum desire destitution discontinuity drive drought eagerness empty purse erroneousness essential essentials exact exigency exiguousness fail fail of fall away fall short fall shy fallibility famine fancy fantasy faultiness favor follow gap go on welfare grinding poverty gripe hand-to-mouth existence have designs on have nothing on have occasion for hiatus homelessness hope horme immaturity impairment impecuniousness imperfection impoverishment impurity inaccuracy inadequacy inadequateness incompleteness indigence indispensable inexactitude inexactness insufficiency intellectual curiosity interval itch to kick the beam lack lacuna lag libido like like to long to lose ground love love to lust lust after lust for learning meagerness mediocrity mendicancy mind miss missing link moneylessness must must item necessaries necessities necessitousness necessity need need for need to neediness neverness nonexistence nonoccurrence nonpresence not answer not approach not come near not compare not hack it not make it not make out not measure up not qualify not stretch not suffice nowhereness occasion omission ought outage passion patchiness pauperism pauperization penury pinch play second fiddle pleasure pleasure principle poorness prefer prerequire prerequirement prerequisite privation rank under require requirement requisite requisition run short run short of scantiness serve sexual desire shortage shortcoming shortfall should sketchiness skimpiness slump starvation starve stop short subserve subtraction take doing take to the necessary the needful thirst for knowledge ullage undevelopment unevenness unperfectedness unsoundness urge want doing want to wantage wanting will will and pleasure wish wish fulfillment wish to wish to goodness wish very much would fain do