How to Use want in a Sentence

want

1 of 2 verb
  • The motor wants a tune-up.
  • Tell him that the teacher wants him.
  • Do you want anything from the store?
  • I just wanted a chance to rest.
  • She wanted more time to finish the test.
  • Do you want more coffee?
  • You can choose whichever color you want.
  • Thousands of poor people still want food and shelter.
  • He wants a bicycle for his birthday.
  • What do you want for Christmas?
  • And the workers, by the way, who want all the overtime ...
    Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press, 26 Dec. 2020
  • No one wants to spend a lot of time or money in the chase.
    Michael Nagrant, RedEye Chicago, 12 July 2018
  • What the people want is regime change, and no return to the past.
    Karl Vick, Time, 29 Sep. 2022
  • The big bet is on the idea that people want to only skim.
    Clare Malone, The New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2022
  • Those who do not want the drug do not have to get it, of course.
    William G. Woods, STAT, 17 Aug. 2022
  • Watching late at night and don’t want to disturb the rest of the house?
    Maren Estrada, BGR, 26 Feb. 2021
  • Critics were quick to note that the change some people want is at the very top.
    Arkansas Online, 5 Feb. 2022
  • Absolver is a game that wants to be very, very many things.
    Steven Strom, Ars Technica, 29 Aug. 2017
  • The same goes for anyone who might want to present to colleagues.
    Ashley Carman, The Verge, 27 Dec. 2018
  • Tumblr diehards do not want the site to be a landing pad for the normies.
    Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 18 Nov. 2022
  • Robinson didn't want to hold bags of poop for that long.
    La Risa R. Lynch, Journal Sentinel, 18 Nov. 2022
  • The influx so far has been made up of those who want a vaccine.
    BostonGlobe.com, 29 Apr. 2021
  • With a dress this fun, who wouldn't want to serve up some looks?
    Anna Moeslein, Glamour, 23 May 2021
  • People from around the world want to be able to see it—and protect it.
    Alexandra Ossola, Quartz, 13 June 2020
  • But those who want to see the fireflies at their peak must win a spot for their car.
    From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 29 Apr. 2021
  • The league — and the teams and players — don’t want to have byes that early.
    Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 14 Dec. 2022
  • And that, again, comes down to whether the Wizards would want to deal.
    Ira Winderman, sun-sentinel.com, 4 June 2021
  • That’s a good assignment for many of us who want to help.
    Terry Pluto, cleveland, 20 Nov. 2021
  • Was there a part of you when you were asked to come back that didn't want to open up that wound again?
    Dalton Ross, EW.com, 2 June 2022
  • In need of new headphones but don’t want to spend a fortune?
    Chelsea Stone, CNN Underscored, 26 Feb. 2021
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want

2 of 2 noun
  • His attitude shows a want of proper respect.
  • He is suffering from want of adequate sleep.
  • Ball has the want and the feel to make plays, along with some of the means.
    Rob Mahoney, SI.com, 14 Dec. 2017
  • Yet to get off the mark but that's not for the want of trying.
    SI.com, 13 Sep. 2019
  • Both of us are in want of coats and a pair of breeche’s.
    Gregory S. Schneider, Washington Post, 16 June 2018
  • The good thing was her wants and my wants were exactly the same.
    Elizabeth Leonard, PEOPLE.com, 11 July 2018
  • Fans by and large want to see lots of offense and lots of points.
    BostonGlobe.com, 30 Oct. 2021
  • Our mom taught us the difference between the need and the want.
    Drew Davison, star-telegram, 10 Sep. 2016
  • Do the Cavs want to trade down and go the big-volume approach?
    Terry Pluto, cleveland.com, 20 June 2019
  • The staff limits its attentions to the needs and wants of its customers.
    James Estrin, New York Times, 19 June 2018
  • Can a want of water be traced to its source, like a river?
    Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2022
  • Campbell would be the first to admit that right now, bars are a want but not a need.
    Brooke Henderson, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2020
  • Keeping your staff on a salary is a need, but bonuses are a want.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes, 26 May 2022
  • As for how many kids the duo want, Bieber had an answer for that.
    PEOPLE.com, 20 July 2021
  • Others claim that the want of jobs leaves those who commit these crimes no choice.
    Joseph Epstein, WSJ, 9 Jan. 2022
  • What Moore and many on the left want isn’t mere victory.
    Andy Marso, chicagotribune.com, 2 Aug. 2019
  • Mi think mi have more control in terms of how mi want di music fi sound.
    Kyle Denis, Billboard, 8 Dec. 2023
  • Now the brothers- and sisters-in-law want to go out for brunch and hear all about the wedding.
    Washington Post, 11 Jan. 2020
  • Your wants may not align with your budget while the moon and Mercury square off.
    USA TODAY, 25 Aug. 2023
  • But what if someone on leave wants to look for and/or apply for a new job?
    Kathleen Furore, chicagotribune.com, 7 Nov. 2019
  • The sound didn’t so much echo as fill the space, for want of competition.
    Washington Post, 4 Feb. 2022
  • But something about his case made her want to dig deeper.
    Melissa Del Bosque, ProPublica, 13 Aug. 2019
  • Expanding your horizons may feel like a need rather than a want.
    Chicago Tribune, 25 Oct. 2022
  • Would your loved one want to be a hero, save lives, have a living legacy?
    Amanda Kingsbury, Indianapolis Star, 12 Apr. 2018
  • How his mouth, unused to passing air, dried from want of use.
    Jodie Briggs, Longreads, 27 Mar. 2018
  • Knowing what other want is not the same as practicing it.
    John Baldoni, Forbes, 12 Nov. 2021
  • But having to go into their bedroom a lot can feed into their want to stay up.
    Chris Hachey, BGR, 16 June 2021
  • But social codes ensured that no one suffered from want.
    Scientific American, 25 Mar. 2020
  • Most of us don’t have ambitions greater than living free from want and fear.
    Jason De Sena Trennert, WSJ, 18 Oct. 2020
  • This fix will require more want-to and cleaner offense.
    Christian Clark, NOLA.com, 5 Dec. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'want.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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