Library / English Dictionary

LACK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state of needing something that is absent or unavailable

Example:

for want of a nail the shoe was lost

Synonyms:

deficiency; lack; want

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("lack" is a kind of...):

demand; need (a condition requiring relief)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lack"):

absence (the state of being absent)

dearth; famine; shortage (an acute insufficiency)

deficit (a deficiency or failure in neurological or mental functioning)

mineral deficiency (lack of a mineral micronutrient that is essential for normal nutrition or metabolism)

shortness (the condition of being short of something)

stringency; tightness (a state occasioned by scarcity of money and a shortage of credit)

Derivation:

lack (be without)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be without

Example:

There is something missing in my jewelry box!

Synonyms:

lack; miss

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lack"):

want (be without, lack; be deficient in)

exclude (lack or fail to include)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

lack (the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable)

Credits

 Context examples: 

You will be very preoccupied with work this month (necessarily so), and your partner may feel diminished by the lack of attention you can give.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

She lacked the easy largeness of Martin and could not rise superior to her environment.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

But one of the good qualities which old Mr Fox had possessed, was always lacking, and the cat had continually to send the suitors away.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

However, the mini-kidneys lack a large artery, and without that the organ's function will only be a fraction of normal.

(Scientists Create Functioning Kidney Tissue, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The feathers on this sample lack a central shaft found in today’s feathers.

(Dinosaur Tail Found in Myanmar, VOA News)

It is characterized by the absence of the translocation involving the ALK gene and lacks expression of ALK fusion protein.

(Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, ALK-Negative, NCI Thesaurus)

Anemia has three main causes: blood loss, lack of red blood cell production, and high rates of red blood cell destruction.

(Anemia, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Has he/she lost interest in doing things or does he/she lack motivation for starting new activities?

(NPI - Lost Interest in the World Around Him/Her, NCI Thesaurus)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Is the patient less affectionate or lacking in emotions when compared to his/her usual self?

(NPI - Less Affectionate or Lacking in Emotions, NCI Thesaurus)

A transitional cell carcinoma characterized by a papillary growth pattern and lack of stromal invasion.

(Non-Invasive Papillary Transitional Cell Carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)