(~s, desiring, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is a strong wish to do or have something.
I had a strong ~ to help and care for people...
They seem to have lost their ~ for life.
N-COUNT: oft N to-inf, N for n
2.
If you ~ something, you want it. (FORMAL)
She had remarried and ~d a child with her new husband...
But Fred was bored and ~d to go home...
VERB: no cont, V n, V to-inf
~d
You may find that just threatening this course of action will produce the ~d effect...
ADJ: ADJ n
3.
Desire for someone is a strong feeling of wanting to have sex with them.
Teenage sex, for instance, may come not out of genuine ~ but from a need to get love.
N-UNCOUNT
4.
If you say that something leaves a lot to be ~d, you mean that it is not as good as it should be.
The selection of TV programmes, especially at the weekend, leaves a lot to be ~d...
PHRASE: V inflects disapproval