[f. WANT v. + -ING2.]
A. As pres. pple. (only predicatively).
1. That is absent or lacking; not forthcoming, not supplied or provided.
c. 1400. Rule St. Benet (Verse), 1505. So þat, if oght wantand be, in whom defaut es, may men se.
c. 1440. Alphabet of Tales, 54. So þai lukid aboute þaim, & one of þaim sayd þat þe chamberlayn was wantand.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., I. 36. If doung be wantyng to mende the ground withall.
1671. Milton, P. R., II. 450. And what in me seems wanting, but that I May also in this poverty as soon Accomplish what they did?
1707. Curios. in Husb. & Gard., 168. When the Saltseller was wanting, the Table was look’d on as Profane.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., ii. Mr. Winkle eagerly watched his opportunity; it was not long wanting.
1883. Manch. Guard., 22 Oct., 5/2. There are not wanting indications that the calm is more apparent than real.
1886. C. Scholl, Phraseol. Dict., II. 830. Nothing will be wanting on my part to render your stay in our city as agreeable as possible.
b. Const. to († formerly also simple dative)
13[?]. Cursor M., 6499. Quen manna sal vs wantand be, He sal send vs wid plente.
1591. Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., I. i. 82. Were our Teares wanting to this Funerall.
1640. trans. Verdere’s Rom. of Rom., II. xlv. 174. As for my parents,… I may say without vanity, that Crowns are unjustly wanting to their worth. [Fr. que les couronnes manquent iniustement à leurs merites.]
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iv. I. 430. No gift of nature or of fortune seemed to be wanting to her.
1861. Paley, Aeschylus (ed. 2), Choeph., 817, note. By this slight and happy change … an imperative, hitherto wanting to the sentence, is obtained.
c. fig. To be wanting to: to fail to help or satisfy (a person or need); to prove unequal to, fall below (a claim, expectation, duty, opportunity). To be wanting to oneself: to fail to do justice to oneself; to fall below the standard imposed by one’s character and abilities (now rare or arch.).
1640. trans. Verdere’s Rom. of Rom., I. xliii. 176. When they had all promised rather to dye then be wanting to the duty of a good Knight [Fr. plustost que manquer au deuoir d’un bon cheualier].
1642. D. Rogers, Naaman, 11. Some alledge God will not be wanting to any who are not wanting to themselves.
1667. Milton, P. L., X. 271. Nor shall I to the work thou enterprisest Be wanting, but afford thee equal aid.
1701. W. Wotton, Hist. Rome, 343. He was mightily wanting also to himself in the choice of his Officers.
1762. Hume, Hist. Eng. to Hen. VII., I. i. 17. Cerdic was not wanting to his good fortune.
1785. Cowper, Lett. to Unwin, 31 Dec. You observe therefore that I am not wanting to myself; he that is so, has no just claim on the assistance of others.
1794. Ann. Reg., Hist., 89. The Vendéans were not wanting to themselves in so terrible a crisis.
1868. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1877), II. vii. 140. The Earl was not a man to be wanting to his country at such a moment.
1872. J. H. Newman, Hist. Sk., II. Ded. p. vi. You have never been wanting to me … when I had occasion in any difficulty to seek your guidance.
† 2. Needful, requisite, necessary. Obs.
1756. Washington, Writ. (1889), I. 261. To carry on all these works, a number of tools … will be absolutely wanting.
1797. Mrs. A. M. Bennett, Beggar Girl (1813), II. 98. Mrs. Buchanan’s first plan was to take such a number of servants with her as would be wanting to attend on her husband.
1802. Mar. Edgeworth, Moral T., Prussian Vase, Wks. 1816, I. 248. She added, that the count had written all that was wanting for her.
3. That lacks, or is without, something. Usu. with a defining prepositional phrase: see b, c, d.
1611. Bible, Dan. v. 27. TEKEL, thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ix. II. 453. His rectitude and piety, tried by strong temptations and never found wanting.
† b. const. of. Obs.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. ii. 78. My life were better ended by their hate, Then death proroged wanting of thy Loue.
1654–66. Earl Orrery, Parthen. (1676), 788. I give those Kingdoms to you and your Heirs for ever … and wanting of Heirs, to revert unto my Successors again.
1709. Mrs. Manley, Secret Mem., I. 2. Her Limbs enervated and supine, wanting of that Energy that should bear her [etc.].
1721. Bradley, Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat., 23. It is wanting of Leaves.
c. const. in.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Past., Ded. to Ld. Clifford. Though England is not wanting in a Learned Nobility.
1724. Pope, Lett., 1 Aug., in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 153. And hope … he will not be found wanting in the knowledge of his profession.
1869. Tozer, Highl. Turkey, II. 257. No one … would suspect them of being wanting in fun.
1896. Law Times, C. 393/1. The Doctor’s reply to Junius was not wanting in incisiveness.
d. const. for. rare.
1874. Dasent, Half a Life, I. 115. As I was wanting for a nickname,… I was called ‘the Companion of the Bath.’
† 4. That is short of (a certain age). Obs.
1709. Mrs. Manley, Secret Mem. (1736), I. 189. I was then wanting of Fourteen.
† 5. With inf. Slow or backward to (do something). Obs.
1691. d’Emiliane’s Frauds Rom. Monks (ed. 3), 286. The Monk was extraordinarily applauded for this his curious Thought, and he was not wanting to make good use of it.
1738. Wesley’s Hymns, ‘When to the Temple,’ ii. Should we be wanting to rejoice Thro’ Deadness or Delays The Stones themselves would find a Voice To celebrate his Praise.
1755. Magens, Insurances, II. 119. All those that are wanting to do their Duty in this Respect, shall be obliged to make Satisfaction.
6. Mentally defective, weak-minded. dial.
1877. Holderness Gloss., s.v., You moant tak nooatis o’ what he says; he’s a bit wantin.
1911. Times, 12 July, 10/1. Making him seem to be what village-people call ‘wanting.’
II. As ppl. a. (in attrib. use).
7. Absent, lacking, missing.
1573. Aldeburgh Rec., in N. & Q., 12th Ser. VII. 226/2. To Jeaffrye Freman for a wanton [sic] Box that barker loste, xiid.
1683. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Printing, xxv. ¶ 5. He Sets out … a Quire … to make good the wanting Sheets.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 16 Sept. 1685. Then they spake of the boy who was pretended to have a wanting leg restor’d him.
1851. Sylvester, in Lond., etc. Phil. Mag., Sept., 229. It is difficult to see how the wanting factor escapes detection.
1854. H. Miller, Sch. & Schm., 302. Many a wanting feature had to be supplied.
1915. Blackw. Mag., Aug., 232/1. By no searching in his girdle … could he produce the wanting money.
8. Deficient, lacking (in something expressed or implied by the context); esp. lacking in money or necessaries of life, needy, necessitous. Also absol. Now rare or Obs.
a. 1616. Beaum. & Fl., Wit without Money, II. iv. I have not seene a Gentleman so backward, a wanting Gentleman.
1657. S. Purchas, Pol. Flying-Ins., 338. Bees though … they have sufficiently stored and replenished their hives…; yet will they not give over working; nay some, not leave robbing and that from the weaker and wanting hives.
1683. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Printing, xxiv. ¶ 10. He thrusts the Wooll from the bunching-out side, towards the wanting side.
1685. Sir W. Petty, Will, in Trans. R. Ir. Acad., XXIV. III. 114. I give twenty pounds to the most wanting of the parish wherein I dye.
1727. Swift, Lett. to Mrs. Howard, 9 July. Thus wanting people are like drowning people, who lay hold of every reed or bulrush in their way.
1747. Will, in J. O. Payne, Rec. Engl. Catholics (1889), 23. £50 to the two bishops … to give to the most pious and wanting of their clergy to pray for me.
Hence Wantingly adv., Wantingness.
1643. Herle, Answ. Ferne, 14. The maine ends … are … supply of wantingnesse, allay of wilfulnesse.
1865. J. Grote, Mor. Ideals, ii. (1876), 24. The wantingness which is the call to action.
1894. ‘Eha,’ Naturalist on Prowl, 54. Gaunt frames of … cows and calves with … lustrous eyes staring wantingly.
