crave
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to long for; want greatly; desire eagerly.
to crave sweets; to crave affection.
-
to require; need.
a problem craving prompt attention.
-
to ask earnestly for (something); beg for.
-
to ask (a person) earnestly for something or to do something.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to desire intensely; long (for)
-
(tr) to need greatly or urgently
-
(tr) to beg or plead for
Other Word Forms
- craver noun
Etymology
Origin of crave
First recorded before 1000; Middle English craven, Old English crafian; akin to Old Norse krefja “to demand, lay claim to”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It really was the extra practice that I craved.
From Literature
“I work a stressful job, and it’s nice to have that third space that we’re all craving.”
From Los Angeles Times
Perhaps I realized, fittingly, this is the only time of year I truly crave carrot soup.
From Salon
Haggis has its defenders, but it is not, for most Americans, a food you crave under emotional duress.
From Salon
De Boer focuses on the kind of fare a traveler craves when coming in from the cold: venison and Sherry pie, spit-roasted duck, cups of warming bone broth.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
