Wish , n.

1. Desire; eager desire; longing.

Behold, I am according to thy wish in God a 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; an object of desire.

Will he, wise, let loose at once his ire . . . To give his enemies their wish! Milton.

Wish (?), 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.

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

2. To frame or express desires concerning; to invoke in favor of, or against, any one; to attribute, or cal down, in desire; to invoke; to imprecate.

I would not wish them to a fairer death. Shak.

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

Let them be driven backward, and put to shame, that wish me evil. Ps. xl. 14.

3. To recommend; to seek confidence or favor in behalf of. [Obs.] Shak.

I would be glad to thrive, sir, And I was wished to your worship by a gentleman. B. Jonson.

Syn. -- See Desire.

Wish (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Wished (?); p. pr. & vb. n.Wishing.] [OE. wischen, weschen, wuschen, AS. w?scan; akin to D. wenschen, G. wünschen, Icel. æeskja, Dan. önske, Sw. önska; from AS. w?sc a wish; akin to OD. & G. wunsch, OHG. wunsc, Icel. ?sk, Skr. vā?chā a wish, vā?ch to wish; also to Skr. van to like, to wish. ?. See Winsome, Win, v. t., and cf. Wistful.]

1. To have a desire or yearning; to long; to hanker.

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.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913