Vocabulary     

What does lack mean?

Definitions for lack
læklack

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word lack.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. lack, deficiency, wantverb

    the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable

    "there is a serious lack of insight into the problem"; "water is the critical deficiency in desert regions"; "for want of a nail the shoe was lost"

  2. miss, lackverb

    be without

    "This soup lacks salt"; "There is something missing in my jewelry box!"

Wiktionary

  1. lacknoun

    A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy.

  2. lacknoun

    A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.

  3. lackverb

    To be without, to need, to require.

    My life lacks excitement.

  4. lackverb

    To be short (of or for something).

    He'll never lack for company while he's got all that money.

  5. Etymology: Apparently cognate with Middle Low German lak, Middle Dutch lac (> modern lak).

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Lacknoun

    Etymology: from the verb.

    In the scripture there neither wanteth any thing, the lack whereof might deprive us of life. Richard Hooker, b. i. p. 41.

    Many that are not mad
    Have sure more lack of reason. William Shakespeare, Meas. for Meas.

    He was not able to keep that place three days, for lack of victuals. Richard Knolles, History of the Turks.

    The trenchant blade, toledo trusty,
    For want of fighting was grown rusty,
    And eat into itself, for lack
    Of somebody to hew and hack. Hudibras, p. i. c. 1.

  2. To LACKverb

    To want; to need; to be without.

    Etymology: laecken, to lessen, Dutch.

    Every good and holy desire, though it lack the form, hath notwithstanding in itself the substance, and with him the force of prayer, who regardeth the very moanings, groans, and sighs of the heart. Richard Hooker, b. v. l. 348.

    A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness; thou shalt not lack any thing in it. Deut. viii. 9.

    One day we hope thou shalt bring back,
    Dear Bolingbroke, the justice that we lack. Daniel.

    Intreat they may; authority they lack. Daniel.

  3. To Lackverb

    The lions do lack and suffer hunger. Common Prayer.

    Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous; wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? Gen. viii. 28.

    There was nothing lacking to them: David recovered all. 1 Sam. xxx. 19.

    That which was lacking on your part, they have supplied. 1 Cor. xvi. 17.

ChatGPT

  1. lack

    Lack refers to the state of being without or not having enough of something; a deficiency or absence of a desirable or necessary attribute or quality. It can pertain to physical possessions, skills, qualities, aspects or elements that are missing or insufficient.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Lacknoun

    blame; cause of blame; fault; crime; offense

  2. Lacknoun

    deficiency; want; need; destitution; failure; as, a lack of sufficient food

  3. Lackverb

    to blame; to find fault with

  4. Lackverb

    to be without or destitute of; to want; to need

  5. Lackverb

    to be wanting; often, impersonally, with of, meaning, to be less than, short, not quite, etc

  6. Lackverb

    to be in want

  7. Lack

    exclamation of regret or surprise

  8. Etymology: [OE. lak; cf. D. lak slander, laken to blame, OHG. lahan, AS. len.]

Wikidata

  1. Lack

    Lack is a small village and townland in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 114 people.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Lack

    lak, v.t. and v.i. to want: to be in want: to be destitute of: to miss.—n. want: destitution.—ns. Lack′-all, one who is destitute; Lack′-brain (Shak.), a fool.—adjs. Lack′-lin′en (Shak.), wanting linen; Lack′-lus′tre, wanting brightness.—n. a want of brightness. [From an old Low Ger. root found in Dut. lak, blemish; cf. Ice. lakr, defective.]

Editors Contribution

  1. lackadverb

    I have a bottle of Lack from 175 years ago from Hungary or Finland!! You don't have that one.


    Submitted by stuartschiell56 on June 27, 2021  

Suggested Resources

  1. LACK

    What does LACK stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the LACK acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. LACK

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Lack is ranked #11778 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Lack surname appeared 2,661 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Lack.

    91% or 2,422 total occurrences were White.
    4.1% or 110 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    1.6% or 44 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    1.4% or 39 total occurrences were Black.
    1% or 27 total occurrences were Asian.
    0.7% or 19 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'lack' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1100

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'lack' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2319

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'lack' in Nouns Frequency: #512

  4. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'lack' in Verbs Frequency: #434

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

Anagrams for lack »

  1. calk

How to pronounce lack?

How to say lack in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of lack in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of lack in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of lack in a Sentence

  1. Philip Baum:

    For an industry that is supposed to be high-tech and develop strategies based on common sense, it was a remarkable lack of judgment.

  2. Dante Disparte:

    It requires a certain boldness and fortitude to take on an endeavor as ambitious as Libra — a generational opportunity to get things right and improve financial inclusion, commitment to that mission is more important to us than anything else. We're better off knowing about this lack of commitment now, rather than later.

  3. Bruce Montgomery:

    Entrepreneurship has everything to do [with it] because we know that where there is wealth, where there is commerce, where there is good credit scores, you don't see challenges in education, poor health outcomes, lack of vision for opportunity, if you can't see it, you don't think about being it.

  4. Aneel Bhangu:

    Around the time of surgery, lack of critical care facilities and imaging due to resources may also affect outcome adversely.

  5. Charles Elson:

    It's considered very poor governance to permit your CEO to pledge stock, because if the stock falls, the stock will have to be sold and it could demonstrate a lack of confidence in the company.

more sentences »

Popularity rank by frequency of use

lack#1#2498#10000

References

Translations for lack

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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Translation

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"lack." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/lack>.

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