desire

desire is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 10 senses, and appears in Roget's Thesaurus (1911) with 40 related terms. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.Ye desire your child to live. Tennyson.
  2. 2.To express a wish for; to entreat; to request. Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord 2 Kings iv.
  3. 3.Desire him to go in; trouble him no more. Shak.
  4. 4.To require; to demand; to claim. [Obs.] A doleful case desires a doleful song. Spenser.
  5. 5.To miss; to regret. [Obs.] She shall be pleasant while she lives, and desired when she dies. Jer. Taylor. -- To Desire, Wish. In desire the feeling is usually more eager than in wish. "I wish you to do this" is a milder form of command than "I desire you to do this," though the feeling prompting the injunction may be the usage C. J. Smith.
  6. 6.The natural longing that is excited by the enjoyment or the thought of any good, and impels to action or effort its continuance or possession; an eager wish to obtain or enjoy. Unspeakable desire to see and know. Milton.
  7. 7.An expressed wish; a request; petition. And slowly was my mother brought To yield consent to my desire. Tennyson.
  8. 8.Anything which is desired; an object of longing. The Desire of all nations shall come. Hag. ii.
  9. 9.4. Excessive or morbid longing; lust; appetite.
  10. 10.Grief; regret. [Obs.] Chapman.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Synonyms (Webster's 1913)

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Related questions

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is desire.

Sources

  • Definitions: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
  • Synonyms & antonyms: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
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