Definition of want

• v. i. - 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.
• v. i. - Specifically, absence or lack of necessaries; destitution; poverty; penury; indigence; need.
• 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.
• v. i. - A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place.
• 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.
• 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.
• v. t. - To feel need of; to wish or long for; to desire; to crave.
• 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.
• v. i. - To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.