lack

noun

1. Archaic form of lakh.

   “a lack of rupees”

verb

Etymology: From Middle English lacken, lakken, laken, from Old English læccian, *lacian (“to blame, criticise, lack”), from Proto-West Germanic *lak(k)ōn (“to blame, be lacking”), from Proto-Germanic *lak(k)ōną (“to reproach, blame, be lacking”), from Proto-Indo-European *lok-néh₂-. Cognate with Old Frisian lakia, lekia (“to contest, blame”), Middle Low German lacken, laken (“to reproach, blame, criticise”), Middle Dutch laken (“to disapprove, blame, lack”), Dutch laken (“to blame, reproach”).

1. To be without, not to have, to need, to require.

   “My life lacks excitement.”

   “More flak was aimed at the Treasury's apparent lack of marketing skills, when it was argued that its idea of how to sell tickets was along the lines of "you can get two tickets for the price of two", and it lacks the sales and promotional skills of the train operating companies which are needed to boost revenue.”

2. To be short (of or for something).

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

   “Hamlet. What hour now? Horatio. I think it lacks of twelve.”

3. To be in want.

   “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger […]”

4. To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach.

   “That is Mede þe Mayde quod she · hath noyed me ful oft / And ylakked my lemman.”

5. To be off one's guard.

   “His opps caught him lacking.”