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Want
The idea of want can be examined from many perspectives. In secular societies want might be considered similar to the emotion desire, which can be studied scientifically through the disciplines of psychology or sociology. Want might also be examined in economics as a necessary ingredient in sustaining and perpetuating capitalist societies that are organised around principles like consumerism. Alternatively want can be studied in a non-secular, spiritual, moralistic or religious way, particularly by Buddhism but also Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
In economics, a want is something that is desired. It is said that every person has unlimited wants, but limited resources (economics is based on the assumption that only limited resources are available to us). Thus, people cannot have everything they want and must look for the most affordable alternatives.
Wants are often distinguished from needs. A need is something that is necessary for survival (such as food and shelter), whereas a want is simply something that a person would like to have. Some economists have rejected this distinction and maintain that all of these are simply wants, with varying levels of importance. By this viewpoint, wants and needs can be understood as examples of the overall concept of demand.
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Want (verb)
To wish for or desire (something); to feel a need or desire for; to crave or demand. from 18th c.
“What do you want to eat?”
“I want you to leave.”
“I”
“never wanted to go back to live with my mother.”
“I”
“want to be an astronaut when I’m older.”
“I”
“don’t want him to marry Gloria, I”
“want him to marry me!”
“What do you want from me?”
“Do”
“you want anything from the shops?”
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Want (verb)
To wish, desire{{,}} or demand to see, have the presence of or do business with.
“Ma’am, you are exactly the professional we want for this job.”
“Danish police want him for embezzlement.”
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Want (verb)
To lack and be in need of or require (something, such as a noun or verbal noun). from 15th c.
“That chair wants fixing.”
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Want (verb)
To lack and be without, to not have (something). from 13th c.
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Want (verb)
To lack and (be able to) do without.
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Want (verb)
To have occasion for (something requisite or useful); to require or need.
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Want (verb)
To desire (to experience desire); to wish.
“the cat wants back out again; you can leave if you want”
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Want (verb)
To be lacking or deficient or absent. from 13th c.
“There was something wanting in the play.”
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Want (verb)
To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.
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Want (verb)
To be advised to do something should, ought}}.
“You’ll want to repeat this three or four times to get the best result.”
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Want (noun)
A desire, wish, longing.
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Want (noun)
}} Lack, absence.
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Want (noun)
Poverty.
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Want (noun)
Something needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt.
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Want (noun)
A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place.
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Will (verb)
To wish, desire (something). 9th-18th c.
“Do what you will.”
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Will (verb)
To wish or desire (that something happen); to intend (that). 9th-19th c.
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Will (verb)
To habitually do (a given action). from 9th c.
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Will (verb)
To choose to (do something), used to express intention but without any temporal connotations (+ bare infinitive). from 10th c.
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Will (verb)
Used to express the future tense, sometimes with some implication of volition when used in the first person. Compare shall. from 10th c.
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Will (verb)
To be able to, to have the capacity to. from 14th c.
“Unfortunately, only one of these gloves will actually fit over my hand.”
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Will (verb)
To wish, desire. 9th–19th c.
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Will (verb)
To instruct (that something be done) in one’s will. from 9th c.
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Will (verb)
To try to make (something) happen by using one’s will (intention). from 10th c.
“All the fans were willing their team to win the game.”
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Will (verb)
To bequeath (something) to someone in one’s will (legal document). from 15th c.
“He willed his stamp collection to the local museum.”
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Will (noun)
One’s independent faculty of choice; the ability to be able to exercise one’s choice or intention. from 9th c.
“Of course, man’s will is often regulated by his reason.”
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Will (noun)
One’s intention or decision; someone’s orders or commands. from 9th c.
“Eventually I submitted to my parents’ will.”
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Will (noun)
The act of choosing to do something; a person’s conscious intent or volition. from 10th c.
“Most creatures have a will to live.”
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Will (noun)
A formal declaration of one’s intent concerning the disposal of one’s property and holdings after death; the legal document stating such wishes. from 14th c.
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Will (noun)
That which is desired; one’s wish. from 10th c.
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Will (noun)
Desire, longing. (Now generally merged with later senses.) from 9th c.
“He felt a great will to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.”
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Want (verb)
have a desire to possess or do (something); wish for
“we want to go to the beach”
“she wanted me to leave”
“I’ll give you a lift into town if you want”
“I want an apple”
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Want (verb)
wish to speak to (someone)
“Tony wants me in the studio”
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Want (verb)
(of a suspected criminal) be sought by the police for questioning
“he is wanted by the police in connection with an arms theft”
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Want (verb)
desire (someone) sexually
“I’ve wanted you since the first moment I saw you”
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Want (verb)
desire to be in or out of a particular place or situation
“if anyone wants out, there’s the door”
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Want (verb)
should or need to do something
“you don’t want to believe everything you hear”
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Want (verb)
(of a thing) require to be attended to in a specified way
“the wheel wants greasing”
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Want (verb)
lack something desirable or essential
“you shall want for nothing while you are with me”
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Want (verb)
(chiefly used in expressions of time) lack or be short of (a specified amount or thing)
“it wanted twenty minutes to midnight”
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Want (noun)
a lack or deficiency of something
“for want of a better location we ate our picnic in the cemetery”
“Victorian houses which are in want of repair”
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Want (noun)
the state of being poor and in need of essentials; poverty
“freedom from want”
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Want (noun)
a desire for something
“the expression of our wants and desires”