Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - lack

(lacks, lacking, lacked) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If there is a lack of something, there is not enough of it or it does not exist at all. Despite his lack of experience, he got the job... The charges were dropped for lack of evidence... There is a lack of people wanting to start up new businesses. N-UNCOUNT: also a N, usu N of n 2. If you say that someone or something lacks a particular quality or that a particular quality is lacking in them, you mean that they do not have any or enough of it. He lacked the judgment and political acumen for the post of chairman... Certain vital information is lacking in the report. VERB: V n, V 3. see also lacking 4. If you say there is no lack of something, you are emphasizing that there is a great deal of it. He said there was no lack of things for them to talk about... PHRASE: PHR n, usu v-link PHR, v PHR c darkgreen]emphasis