lack

1. lack of something the fact that something is not available or that there is not enough of it: lack of confidence Her only problem is a lack of confidence.

1. to not have or not have enough of something that is needed or wanted: He just lacks a little confidence. What we lack in this house is space to store things. We are lacking three members of staff due to illness.

1. a condition of not having any or enough of something, esp. something necessary or wanted: a lack of ambition/confidence/knowledge a lack of money She certainly has no lack of friends (= She has a lot of friends).

1. to not have any or enough of something, esp. something necessary or wanted: What we lack in this house is space to store things. He’s totally lacking a sense of humor.

1. a situation in which there is not enough of something, or something is not available: serious/severe lack of sth Many of these communities are having to cope with a severe lack of resources. "Lack of time" is frequently cited as the reason for poor-quality work.

1. to not have enough of something that is necessary: Most of the candidates had the right qualifications but lacked the necessary skills.

1. (intransitive verb) : to be deficient or missing time is lacking for a full explanation

2. (intransitive verb) : to be short or have need of something he will not lack for advisers The area does not lack for good restaurants.

3. (transitive verb) : to stand in need of : suffer from the absence or deficiency of lack the necessities of life She lacked confidence.

1. : the fact or state of being wanting or deficient a lack of evidence

2. : something that is lacking or is needed

1. an absence or inadequate amount of something needed, desirable, or customary. We had to severely limit our holiday gift shopping due to lack of funds. Lack of skill is the main reason he didn’t get the job.

2. something missing or needed. After he left, they really felt the lack.

1. to be without or deficient in. She wants to become an actor, but unfortunately she lacks ability. Many of the villagers lacked even the basic necessities of life.

2. to fall short of a target or requirement by (a particular amount). He lacks three votes to win.

1. to be absent or missing, as something needed or desirable. Three votes are lacking to make a majority.

1. lack in to be short of or deficient in. What he lacks in brains, he makes up for in brawn.

1. an insufficiency, shortage, or absence of something required or desired

2. something that is required but is absent or in short supply

1. to be deficient (in) or have need (of) to lack purpose

1. A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want, dearth. c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]: 1994, Green Day, “Basket Case”: 2012 September 7, Phil Mc Nulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport: 2022 January 12, Tom Allett, “Network News: MPs concerned at Treasury's influence on rail industry”, in RAIL, number 948, page 13:

2. (obsolete) A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

1. (transitive, stative) To be without, not to have, to need, to require. 2022 January 12, Tom Allett, “Network News: MPs concerned at Treasury's influence on rail industry”, in RAIL, number 948, page 13:

2. (intransitive) To be short (of or for something). c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:

3. (intransitive, obsolete) To be in want. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 34:10:

4. (obsolete) To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach. c. 1378-9, [William Langland], “[Passus II]”, in The Vision of Pierce Plowman [...] (Cr, B-text), London: […] Roberte Crowley, […], published 1550, →OCLC:

5. (African-American Vernacular) To be off one's guard.

1. Archaic form of lakh.

1. deficiency, need Synonyms : absence, dearth, inadequacy, loss, paucity, poverty, reduction, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming, shortfall, abridgement, curtailment, decrease, default, defect, deficit, depletion, deprivation, destitution, distress, exigency, exiguity, inferiority, insufficiency, meagerness, miss, necessity, privation, retrenchment, scantiness, shortness, shrinkage, shrinking, slightness, stint, want, insufficience Antonyms : abundance, affluence, enough, excess, plenty, success, sufficiency, addition, advantage, enlargement, expansion, increase, perfection, extra, lot, plethora, profusion, surplus

1. do not have Synonyms : need, require, want, minus, miss, out, be deficient in, be short of, be without, have need of, hurting for, not got, too little too late Antonyms : dislike, have

Present Simple — I lack, you lack, it/she/he lacks, we lack, you all lack, they lack

Future Simple — I will lack, you will lack, it/she/he will lack, we will lack, you all will lack, they will lack

Past Simple — I lacked, you lacked, it/she/he lacked, we lacked, you all lacked, they lacked

Conditional Simple — I would lack, you would lack, it/she/he would lack, we would lack, you all would lack, they would lack

Present Progressive — I am lacking, you are lacking, it/she/he is lacking, we are lacking, you all are lacking, they are lacking

Future Progressive — I will be lacking, you will be lacking, it/she/he will be lacking, we will be lacking, you all will be lacking, they will be lacking

Past Progressive — I was lacking, you were lacking, it/she/he was lacking, we were lacking, you all were lacking, they were lacking

Conditional Progressive — I would be lacking, you would be lacking, it/she/he would be lacking, we would be lacking, you all would be lacking, they would be lacking

Present Perfect — I have lacked, you have lacked, it/she/he has lacked, we have lacked, you all have lacked, they have lacked

Future Perfect — I will have lacked, you will have lacked, it/she/he will have lacked, we will have lacked, you all will have lacked, they will have lacked

Past Perfect — I had lacked, you had lacked, it/she/he had lacked, we had lacked, you all had lacked, they had lacked

Conditional Perfect — I would have lacked, you would have lacked, it/she/he would have lacked, we would have lacked, you all would have lacked, they would have lacked

Present Perfect Progressive — I have been lacking, you have been lacking, it/she/he has been lacking, we have been lacking, you all have been lacking, they have been lacking

Future Perfect Progressive — I will have been lacking, you will have been lacking, it/she/he will have been lacking, we will have been lacking, you all will have been lacking, they will have been lacking

Past Perfect Progressive — I had been lacking, you had been lacking, it/she/he had been lacking, we had been lacking, you all had been lacking, they had been lacking

Conditional Perfect Progressive — I would have been lacking, you would have been lacking, it/she/he would have been lacking, we would have been lacking, you all would have been lacking, they would have been lacking

c. 1300, lak, "absence, want; shortage, deficiency of something requisite," not found in Old English, of uncertain origin. Perhaps it is from an unrecorded Old English lac, or else borrowed from Middle Dutch lak "deficiency, fault;" in either case probably from Proto-Germanic lek- (source also of Old Frisian lek "disadvantage, damage," Old Norse lakr "lacking" (in quality), "deficient" (in weight)), reconstructed in Watkins to be from PIE *leg- (2) "to dribble, trickle" (see leak (v.)). Middle English also had lackless "without blame or fault." also from c. 1300

"be wanting or deficient" (intransitive), late 12c., lakken, perhaps from Middle Dutch laken "to be wanting," from lak (n.) "deficiency, fault," or an unrecorded native cognate word (see lack (n.)). The transitive sense of "be in want of" is recorded from early 13c. Related: Lacked; lacking. To lack is primarily and generally to be without, that which is lacked being generally some one thing, and a thing which is desirable, although generally not necessary or very important. [Century Dictionary] also from late 12c.

Lack may refer to:

- Lack, County Fermanagh, a townland in Northern Ireland - Lack, Poland - Łąck, Poland - Lack Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, US

- Lack (surname) - Lack (manque), a term in Lacan's psychoanalytic philosophy - "Lack" (song), by Porno Graffiti, 2003 - IKEA Lack, a table manufactured by IKEA