Wish | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Wish, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. [imp. & p. p. WISHED (wĭsht); p. pr. & vb. n. WISHING.] [A-S. wyscan, O. H. Ger. wunskiân, wunscon, N. H. Ger. winschen, D. wenschen, Icel. óska, Sw. önska, Dan. önske, Skr. vânch.]

Sense 1. To have a desire; to long; to hanker.

I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper. 3 John 2.

They cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. Acts xxvii. 29.

This is as good an argument as an antiquary could wish for. Arbuthnot.

Some ills we wish for when we wish to live. Young.

Sense 2. To be disposed or inclined; as, to wish well to another’s affairs.

Sense 3. To entertain hope or fear in respect to any thing.

I wish that it may not prove some ominous token of misfortune to have met with such a miser as I am. Sidney.

Wish, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. 1. To desire; to long for; to hanker after; to have a mind or disposition toward. I would not wish Any companion in the world but you. Shak.

Sense 2. To frame or express desires concerning; to invoke in favor of or against any one; to attribute or call down in desire; to invoke; to imprecate. Let them be driven backward, and put to shame, that wish me evil. Ps. xl. 14. I would not wish them to a fairer death. Shak.

Sense 3. Hence, to recommend; to seek confidence or favor in behalf of. [Obs.] I would be glad to thrive, sir, And I was wished to you by a gentleman. B. Jonson.

Wish, n.

noun

n. [A-S. wisc, O. H. Ger. wunsch, N. H. Ger. wunsch, D. wensch, Icel. óski, Sw. önskan, Dan. önske. See supra.] 1. Desire; eager desire; longing. Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead. Job xxxiii. 6. 2. Expression of desire; request; petition; hence, invocation or imprecation. Blistered be thy tongue For such a wish. Shak. 3. A thing desired; object of desire. Will he, so wise, at once let loose his ire . . . To give his enemies their wish? Milton.