for lack of

idiom

: not having (the thing specified)
They called it a comet, for lack of a better term/word.
For lack of anything better to do, we went to the park.

Examples of for lack of in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Children in Gaza are already dying for lack of food. Bilal Shbair, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2024 Moore didn’t get traded for lack of production and is one of the more underrated wide receivers in the NFL, totaling more than 1,000 yards receiving three times in his first five seasons with the Panthers. Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Apr. 2024 That's just late enough to prevent returning hunger pangs from keeping them up at night, yet just early enough to prevent him, his wife, and children from fainting for lack of food. Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Apr. 2024 The series has also been criticized for lack of input from Blanco’s family. Bryan Pietsch, Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2024 There are numerous reports of preventable deaths for lack of oxygen and ventilators. Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, 1 Mar. 2024 And, for that matter, television has a long history of shoehorning disparate characters into policework for lack of a better idea. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2024 He was briefly jailed on charges of adultery, but the charges were quickly dropped for lack of evidence. Alex Williams, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2024 The tower in Michigan Central Station rises 15 stories above ground level and was originally built in the 1910s to hold offices, although many floors stayed vacant for lack of tenants. Detroit Free Press, 29 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'for lack of.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near for lack of

Cite this Entry

“For lack of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/for%20lack%20of. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.

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