Definitions for the word "want" from multiple English dictionaries.
1. 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.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
2. v. i.
Specifically, absence or lack of necessaries; destitution; poverty; penury; indigence; need.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
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.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
4. v. i.
A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
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.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
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.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
7. v. t.
To feel need of; to wish or long for; to desire; to crave.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
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.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
9. v. i.
To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
10. v.
1 a (often foll. By to + infin.) Desire; wish for possession of; need (wants a drink; wants it done immediately). B require to be attended to; need (garden wants weeding). C (foll. By to + infin.) Colloq. Ought; should (you want to be careful). 2 (usu. Foll. By for) lack; be deficient. 3 be without or fall short by. 4 (as wanted adj.) (of a suspected criminal etc.) Sought by the police. n. 1 (often foll. By of) lack, absence, or deficiency (could not go for want of time). 2 poverty; need. [old norse]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
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