2. To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.

You have a gift, sir (thank your education), Will never let you want.

B. Jonson.

For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find What wants in blood and

spirits, swelled with wind.

Pope.

Want was formerly used impersonally with an indirect object. "Him

wanted audience." Chaucer.

Wa'n't (?). A colloquial contraction of was not.

Want"age (?), n. That which is wanting; deficiency.

Want"ing, a. Absent; lacking; missing; also, deficient; destitute;

needy; as, one of the twelve is wanting; I shall not be wanting in

exertion.

<! p. 1626 !>

Want"less (?), a. Having no want; abundant; fruitful.

Wan"ton (?), a. [OE. wantoun, contr. from wantowen; pref. wan- wanting

(see Wane, v. i.), hence expressing negation + towen, p. p., AS. togen,

p. p. of teón to draw, to educate, bring up; hence, properly, ill bred.

See Tug, v. t.]

1. Untrained; undisciplined; unrestrained; hence, loose; free;

luxuriant; roving; sportive. "In woods and wanton wilderness." Spenser.

"A wild and wanton herd." Shak.

A wanton and a merry [friar].

Chaucer.

[She] her unadorned golden tresses wore Disheveled, but in wanton

ringlets waved.

Milton.

How does your tongue grow wanton in her praise!

Addison.

2. Wandering from moral rectitude; perverse; dissolute. "Men grown

wanton by prosperity." Roscommon.

3. Specifically: Deviating from the rules of chastity; lewd; lustful;

lascivious; libidinous; lecherous.

Not with wanton looking of folly.

Chaucer.

[Thou art] froward by nature, enemy to peace, Lascivious, wanton.

Shak.

The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section T, U, V, and W · 第 2728 / 3573 题