Word a Day
lack
What does lack mean?
lack (noun): a deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want, dearth.
Definition: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
How do you pronounce lack?
/læk/ (IPA, American English). The app reads every word aloud.
Where does lack come from?
From Middle English lack, lakke, lak, from Old English *læc (“deficiency, lack, want”), from Proto-West Germanic *lak, from Proto-Germanic *laką, *lakaz (“slackness”).
Etymology: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What are synonyms of lack?
From Princeton WordNet 3.1.
Test yourself: do you know “lack”?
Tap an answer to check it. The same questions the app asks.
What does “lack” mean?
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
Not quite: that's what car means.
an extreme attainment; the best (or worst) performance ever attested (as in a sport)
Not quite: that's what record means.
the foremost side of something or the end that faces the direction it normally moves
Not quite: that's what front means.
a deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want, dearth
Right! That's what “lack” means.
Which word is closest in meaning to “lack”?
collection
Not quite: collection means something else.
deficiency
Right!
population
Not quite: population means something else.
department
Not quite: department means something else.
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