Forms: 2 lacen, 3 laken, 4 lac, 4–6 lakyn, lake, lakke(n, -in, -yn, 4–7 lak, lacke, (6 lacce), 6–7 Sc. laik, 4 lacky (s.w. dial. 8 lackee, 9 -y); pa. pple. 4 i-lakked. [f. LACK sb.1 or a. Cf. MDu. laken to be wanting, to blame (mod.Du. to blame, despise, condemn).]
† 1. intr. To be wanting or missing; to be deficient in quantity or degree. In early use const. with dative or to. Obs. (But to be lacking is current; see LACKING ppl. a.)
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 233. Wat lacede ȝeu an alle mire rice þat ȝie [etc.].
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 1231. Tid-like hem gan ðat water laken.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. V. 238. And thauh my lyflode lakke letten I nulle That vche mon schal habben his.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Sec. Nun’s T., 498. Ther lakketh no thyng to thyne outter eyen That thou nart blynd.
c. 1430. Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, IV. ix. (1869), 181. A crooked staf me lakketh for to cholle with.
c. 1460. Fortescue, Abs. & Lim. Mon., xi. (1885), 137. A subsidie … as shall accomplishe that wich shall lakke hym off such livelod.
1515. More, in Grafton, Chron. (1568), II. 758. His drift covertly conveyed, lacked not in helpyng forth his brother Duke of Clarence to his death.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 154 b. In him lacked neither good will nor courage.
1588. A. King, trans. Canisius’ Catech., 85. Ye … effectual grace of sa gret a sacrament can na wayis laik heirin.
1611. Bible, Gen. xviii. 28. Peraduenture there shall lacke fiue of the fiftie righteous.
1849. C. Brontë, Shirley, iv. 36. A man in whom awe, imagination and tenderness lack.
† b. To be a defaulter, to be absent. Obs.
c. 1465. Pol. Rel. & L. Poems, 5. Many yeeris hast þou lakkyd owte of this londe.
1467. Eng. Gilds (1870), 386. Yf eny of the xlviij lakke or dissease.
† c. To be faulty or defective; to offend; (with dative) to offend against. Obs.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 723. Fyfty … Þat neuer lakked þy laue, bot loued ay trauþe.
c. 1450. Holland, Howlat, 994. Bot gif I lak in my leid, that nocht till allow is.
¶ d. = LAG v. (Cf. also LACHE v. b.)
1775. S. Thayer, Jrnl. (1867), 14. The people are very weak and begin to lack in the rear, being so much reduced with hunger and cold.
2. trans. To be without, not to have; to have too little of; to be destitute of or deficient in.
c. 1320. R. Brunne, Medit., 883. Ful feyn þey wulde Ihesu down taken But strengþe and ynstrumentys bothe þey lakkyn.
1470–84. Malory, Arthur, IV. x. For though I lacke wepen, I shall lacke no worship.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Alfonce, iv. Thow rendrest not to me al my gold … For of hit I lack four hondred pyeces.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 1 b. Ascrybe it … to my insuffycyency and ignoraunce, whiche lacke both lernynge and eloquence.
1573. Satir. Poems Reform., xxxix. 76. Not laiking na thing that belangit to weir.
1588. Udall, Diotrephes (Arb.), 10. Rather than hee [Judas] woulde lacke money he would sell Iesus Christ himselfe.
1611. Bible, Luke viii. 6. It withered away, because it lacked moisture.
c. 1680. Beveridge, Serm. (1729), I. 183. What can they lack who live with him?
1807. Crabbe, Par. Reg., I. 73. Learning we lack, not books.
1813. Scott, Rokeby, I. xii. I could have laughed—but lacked the time.
1833. Mrs. Browning, Prometh. Bound, Wks. 1850, I. 140. I lack your daring.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. xii. 88. Though not viscous, the ice did not lack the quality of ‘adhesiveness.’
1870. Mrs. Riddell, Austin Friars, iv. Luke Ross felt his life lacked something.
1880. Miss Braddon, Just as I am, vii. Dorothy’s face lacked colour and brightness.
† b. with cannot: To do or go without. Obs.
1551. Ascham, Lett. to E. Raven, 20 Jan., Wks. 1865, I. II. 256. I was afraid when I came out of England to miss beer; but I am afraid when I shall come into England, that I cannot lack this wine.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. vi. 22. The forlorne mayd did with loves longing burne, And could not lacke her lovers company.
1592. Babington, Notes on Gen. vii. (1639), 29. The raine from aboue and the fountaines beneath are things wee cannot lacke.
† c. To perceive the absence of; to miss. Obs.
1604. Shaks., Oth., III. iii. 318. Poore Lady, shee’l run mad When she shall lacke it. Ibid. (1605), Macb., III. iv. 84. My worthy Lord Your Noble Friends do lacke you. Ibid. (1607), Cor., IV. i. 15. I shall be lou’d when I am lack’d.
3. To need, stand in need of. † Frequent in the salesman’s cry What d’ye lack? (obs.)
1530. Palsgr., 601/1. I lacke, I want a thynge.
1535. Coverdale, James i. 5. Yf eny of you lacke wyszdome let him axe of God.
1547–8. Ordre of Commvnion, 7. Lackyng comfort or counsaill.
1614. B. Jonson, Barth. Fair, II. i. What do you lacke? what is’t you buy? what do you lack? rattles, drums, halberts, [etc.].
1668. Dryden, Evening’s Love, V. i. Wks. (1883), III. 363. To draw us in, with a what-do-you-lack, as we passed by.
4. intr. To be short of something. Now rare. † Also simply, to be in want.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cxviii. 141. I shall go abrode … and gette vytayle … for within a whyle we shall lacke.
1560. Rolland, Crt. Venus, I. 33. I alone of sic curage did laik.
1599. Marston, Sco. Villanie, II. v. Wks. 194. Liu’d he now, he should lack, Spight of his farming Oxe-stawles.
1611. Bible, Prov. xxviii. 27. He that giueth vnto the poore, shall not lacke.
1809. E. S. Barrett, Setting Sun, III. 144. Though individuals may lack of breeches.
1894. Outing (U.S.), XXIV. 87/1. Coffee … we were compelled to crush, lacking of a coffee mill.
† 5. trans. To find ‘lacks’ or faults in; to find fault with, abuse, blame, reproach, vituperate. Also absol. Obs. (Sc. and north. dial.)
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 797. He loves men þat in ald tyme has bene, He lakes þa men þat now are sene.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XI. 2. Thanne Scripture scorned me … And lakked me in Latyne. Ibid. (1393), C. XVI. 78. Me is loþ … to lacky eny secte.
a. 1425. Wyntoun, Orig. Cron., IX. xiii. 1475. Yhe wene to lak, bot yhe commend.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 87. First to lofe, and syne to lak, Peter! it is schame.
1496. Dives & Paup. (W. de W.), V. iv. 200/1. The flaterer lacketh and bacbyteth al tho that he hateth.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot. (1856), II. 102. In euerie land with all leid we are lakkit.
1558. Q. Kennedy, Compend. Tract., in Wodrow Soc. Misc. (1844), 98. Love or lack, prayse or condempne.
a. 1605. Montgomerie, Misc. Poems, xliii. 17. Thy leiving no man laks.
† b. To lack (gerundial inf. passing into an adj. phrase): to blame, blameworthy. Obs.
Scott seems to have taken the phrase to mean ‘wanting,’ on the analogy of to seek.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 9037. Quilk er to lac, quilk er to luue, Þair aun werckes will þam proue.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 194. He sais behind þi bak … Wordes þat er to lak.
c. 1480. Lytylle Childr. Bk., 76, in Babees Bk. Ne drynk behynde no mannes bakke, For yf þou do, thow art to lakke.
[1814. Scott, Lord of Isles, II. xxvii. If Bruce shall e’er find friends again … Old Torquil will not be to lack With twice a thousand at his back. Ibid. (1828), F. M. Perth, xiii. Your house has been seldom to lack, when the crown of Scotland desired … wise counsel.]
† 6. In weaker sense: To depreciate, disparage, ‘run down.’ Obs. (Chiefly Sc.)
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XV. 198. As a lyoun he loketh there men lakketh his werkes.
c. 1400. Gamelyn, 276. Felaw he seyde why lakkest thou his ware.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, VIII. 906. Thocht he wes best, no nothir lak we nocht.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, I. Pref. 275. Na man wil I lakkin or despyse.
1533. Gau, Richt Vay, 17. Thay that lichtlis and lakkis their nichburs guidis to oders.
1691. in Ray, S. & E. C. Words, 104.
17[?]. Ramsay, The Cordial, st. 1. Is that the thing ye’re laking?
Proverb. 1546. J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 10. Better leaue then lacke.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, VI. i. 224. You may then cast out some remaines to imploy otherwise; for better it is to leaue then to lacke.
7. Comb. in various adjs. and sbs. indicating the absence or want of what is signified by the second member, as lack-beard, -brain, -grace, -mind, -sense, -wit sbs.; lack-laughter, -life, -linen, -pity, -spittle, -thought adjs.; lack-learning, -love adjs. and sbs.; lack-all, one who is in want of everything; hence lack-allism (nonce-wd.); † lack-looks, a woman who is wanting in good looks; lack-stock (nonce-wd.), one who has no money in stocks. Also LACKLAND, LACK-LATIN, LACK-LUSTRE.
1850. Carlyle, Latter-d. Pamph., i. 46. Vagrant *Lackalls, foolish most of you, criminal many of you, miserable all.
1886. W. Graham, Social Problem, 7. Both the labourers and the lack-alls who do not labour. Ibid., 8. The great intermediate and most anxious class, whose condition shades into *lack-allism.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, V. i. 196. For my Lord *Lacke-beard there, he and I shall meete. Ibid. (1596), 1 Hen. IV., II. iii. 17. What a *lacke-braine is this?
1817. Coleridge, Biog. Lit., 277. We should … consider it as a *lack-grace returned from transportation.
1850. Blackie, Æschylus, I. 48. Many force *Lack-laughter faces to relax Into the soft lines traced by joy.
1590. Davidson, Reply to Bancroft, in Wodrow Soc. Misc., 516. So is there no shalt that oftner flieth out of their bag against others, than the boult of *lack learning.
1602. T. Campion, Art Eng. Poesie, in Ascham’s Scholem. (1863), 261. In those lack-learning times … began that … kind of Poesie … which we abusively call Rime and Meeter.
1765. Blackstone, Comm., I. 176. The name of parliamentum indoctum, or the lack-learning parliament.
1837. Sir F. Palgrave, Merch. & Friar, i. (1844), 16. Our common nomenclature still bears testimony to the lack-learning of ancient times.
1889. J. Hirst, in Archæol. Instit. Jrnl., No. 181. 32. The dreamy, *lack-life, symbolic and ideal creations of the Assyrians.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., II. iv. 134. You poore, base, rascally, cheating, *lacke-Linnen-Mate.
1861. K. H. Digby, Ch. St. John (1863), 325. The fustian rascal and his poor lack-linen mate.
1618. Owles Alm., Our *lack-lookes and barren-beauties.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., II. ii. 77. Pretty soule, she durst not lye Neere this *lacke-loue, this kill-curtesie.
1871. R. Ellis, trans. Catullus, lxxxi. 3. Only the lack-love signor, a wretch from sickly Pisaurum.
1887. H. Knollys, Life Japan, 17. *Lack-minds … whose stagnant curiosity is satisfied by staring over the ship’s side.
1881. Chr. Rossetti, Pageant, etc. 122. Self stabbing self with keen *lack-pity knife.
1881. J. M. Brown, Stud. Life, 9. Many a *lacksense it has led to waste his patrimony.
a. 1834. Coleridge, in Blackw. Mag., CXXXI. (1882), 123/2. I have not words to express the chopped straw, *lack-spittle, dry-chewing feel I experience in reading them.
1820. Southey, Lett. (1856), III. 212. We poor lacklands and *lackstocks who have to earn our livelihood. Ibid. (1829), Epist. Anniversary, 17. Sauney and sentimental, with an air So *lack-thought and so lack-a-daisycal.
1667. Dryden, Sir Martin Mar-all, IV. i. Wks. (1883), III. 53. A conceited *lack-wit, a designing ass.
1809. E. S. Barrett, Setting Sun, I. 40. Alexander, the Lackwit.
