WANT

Definitions

1. 1. 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. And me, his parent, would full soon devour For want of other prey. Milton. From having wishes in consequence of our wants, we often feel wants in consequence of our wishes. Rambler. Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and more saucy. Franklin.
2. 2. Specifically, absence or lack of necessaries; destitution; poverty; penury; indigence; need. Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches, as to conceive how others can be in want. Swift.
3. 3. 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. Habitual superfluities become actual wants. Paley.
4. 4. A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place. [Eng.]