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Want vs Miss - What's the difference?

want | miss |

As a proper noun want

is a personification of want.

As a noun miss is

form of address for an unmarried woman.

want

English

Alternative forms

* waunt (obsolete)

Verb

(en verb)
  • To wish for or to desire (something).
  • * , chapter=13
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , title= Geothermal Energy , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.}}
  • * Dryden
  • The disposition, the manners, and the thoughts are all before it; where any of those are wanting' or imperfect, so much ' wants or is imperfect in the imitation of human life.
  • To lack, not to have (something).
  • *, II.3.7:
  • he that hath skill to be a pilot wants' a ship; and he that could govern a commonwealth' wants means to exercise his worth, hath not a poor office to manage.
  • * James Merrick
  • Not what we wish, but what we want , / Oh, let thy grace supply!
  • * Addison
  • I observed that your whip wanted a lash to it.
  • (colloquially with verbal noun as object) To be in need of; to require (something).
  • * 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Chapter 2
  • The mowing-machine always wanted oiling. Barnet turned it under Jacob's window, and it creaked—creaked, and rattled across the lawn and creaked again.
  • (dated) To be in a state of destitution; to be needy; to lack.
  • * Ben Jonson
  • You have a gift, sir (thank your education), / Will never let you want .
  • * Alexander Pope
  • For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find / What wants in blood and spirits, swelled with wind.

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb. See

    Synonyms

    * (desire) set one's heart on, wish for, would like * (lack) be without * (require) need, be in need of

    Derived terms

    * I want to know * want-away * wanted * want for * wanting *

    Noun

    (poverty)
  • (countable) A desire, wish, longing.
  • (countable, often, followed by of) Lack, absence.
  • * , King Henry VI Part 2 , act 4, sc. 8:
  • [H]eavens and honour be witness, that no want of resolution in me, but only my followers' base and ignominious treasons, makes me betake me to my heels.
  • * :
  • For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
    For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
    For want of a horse the rider was lost.
    For want of a rider the battle was lost.
    For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
    And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
  • (uncountable) Poverty.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches, as to conceive how others can be in want .
  • Something needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt.
  • * Paley
  • Habitual superfluities become actual wants .
  • (UK, mining) A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place.
  • Derived terms

    * want ad

    References

    Statistics

    *

    miss

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) missen, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (es)
  • (ambitransitive) To fail to hit.
  • I missed the target.
    I tried to kick the ball, but missed .
  • * (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • Men observe when things hit, and not when they miss .
  • * (Edmund Waller) (1606-1687)
  • Flying bullets now, / To execute his rage, appear too slow; / They miss , or sweep but common souls away.
  • To fail to achieve or attain.
  • to miss an opportunity
  • * (John Locke) (1632-1705)
  • When a man misses his great end, happiness, he will acknowledge he judged not right.
  • To feel the absence of someone or something, sometimes with regret.
  • I miss you! Come home soon!
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • What by me thou hast lost, thou least shalt miss .
  • *
  • The boy became volubly friendly and bubbling over with unexpected humour and high spirits. He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. Nobody would miss them, he explained.
  • To fail to understand or have a shortcoming of perception.
  • miss the joke
  • To fail to attend.
  • Joe missed the meeting this morning.
  • To be late for something (a means of transportation, a deadline, etc.).
  • I missed the plane!
  • (sports) To fail to score (a goal).
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 18, author=Ben Dirs, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia , passage=Georgia, ranked 16th in the world, dominated the breakdown before half-time and forced England into a host of infringements, but fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili missed three penalties.}}
  • (obsolete) To go wrong; to err.
  • * (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • Amongst the angels, a whole legion / Of wicked sprites did fall from happy bliss; / What wonder then if one, of women all, did miss ?
  • (obsolete) To be absent, deficient, or wanting.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • What here shall miss , our toil shall strive to mend.
    Usage notes
    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See
    Antonyms
    * (to fail to hit) hit, strike, impinge on, run into, collide with * (to feel the absence of) have, feature
    Derived terms
    * hit-and-miss * miss a trick * miss the mark * miss the point * miss the boat * miss fire, misfire * miss out * near miss

    Noun

    (es)
  • A failure to hit.
  • A failure to obtain or accomplish.
  • An act of avoidance.
  • I think I’ll give the meeting a miss .

    Etymology 2

    From (mistress).

    Noun

    (wikipedia miss)
  • A title of respect for a young woman (usually unmarried) with or without a name used.
  • You may sit here, miss .
    You may sit here, Miss Jones.
  • An unmarried woman; a girl.
  • * Cawthorn
  • Gay vanity, with smiles and kisses, / Was busy 'mongst the maids and misses .
  • A kept woman; a mistress.
  • (Evelyn)
  • (card games) In the game of three-card loo, an extra hand, dealt on the table, which may be substituted for the hand dealt to a player.