1. Have a wish for
   "I want my own room"; "I want to go home now";
   - desire
    
2. Have a requirement for
   "This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner";
   - need, require
    
3. Be without, lack; be deficient in
   "flood victims wanting food and shelter"; "want courtesy"; "want the strength to go on living"
    
4. Hunt or look for; require for a particular reason
   "Your former neighbour is wanted by the FBI"; "Uncle Sam wants you"
    
5. Wish or demand the presence of
   "I want you here at noon!"

1. The state of needing something that is absent or unavailable
   "for want of a nail the shoe was lost";
   - lack, deficiency
    
2. Anything that is necessary but lacking
   "I tried to supply his wants";
   - need
    
3. A specific feeling of desire
   "The want of recognition drove him to work harder";
   - wish, wishing
    
4. A state of extreme poverty
   "The want of food and clean water was evident in the impoverished community";
   - privation, deprivation, neediness

Derived forms: wanted, wants, wanting

Type of: be, demand, desire, essential, exist, experience, feel, immiseration, immiserisation [Brit], immiserization, impoverishment, lack, look for, miss, necessary, necessity, need, poorness, poverty, requirement, requisite, search, seek

Encyclopedia: Want, Richard