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LACK
lack, deficiency, want
(noun) the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable; “there is a serious lack of insight into the problem”; “water is the critical deficiency in desert regions”; “for want of a nail the shoe was lost”
miss, lack
(verb) be without; “This soup lacks salt”; “There is something missing in my jewelry box!”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
lack (countable and uncountable, plural lacks)
(obsolete) A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy.
A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
Antonyms
• glut
• surplus
Verb
lack (third-person singular simple present lacks, present participle lacking, simple past and past participle lacked)
(transitive) To be without, to need, to require.
(intransitive) To be short (of or for something).
(intransitive, obsolete) To be in want.
(obsolete) To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach.
Anagrams
• calk, kcal
Source: Wiktionary
Lack, n. Etym: [OE. lak; cf. D. lak slander, laken to blame, OHG. lahan, AS. leán.]
1. Blame; cause of blame; fault; crime; offense. [Obs.] Chaucer.
2. Deficiency; want; need; destitution; failure; as, a lack of sufficient food. She swooneth now and now for lakke of blood. Chaucer. Let his lack of years be no impediment. Shak.
Lack, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lacked; p. pr. & vb. n. Lacking.]
1. To blame; to find fault with. [Obs.] Love them and lakke them not. Piers Plowman.
2. To be without or destitute of; to want; to need. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. James i. 5.
Lack, v. i.
1. To be wanting; often, impersonally, with of, meaning, to be less than, short, not quite, etc. What hour now I think it lacks of twelve. Shak. Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty. Gen. xvii. 28.
2. To be in want. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger. Ps. xxxiv. 10.
Lack, interj. Etym: [Cf. Alack.]
Definition: Exclamation of regret or surprise. [Prov. Eng.] Cowper.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
24 March 2025
STACCATO
(adjective) (music) marked by or composed of disconnected parts or sounds; cut short crisply; “staccato applause”; “a staccato command”; “staccato notes”
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