Definition: longing

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

longing
     n : prolonged unfulfilled desire or need [syn: yearning]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Long \Long\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Longed; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Longing.] [AS. langian to increase, to lengthen, to stretch
   out the mind after, to long, to crave, to belong to, fr. lang
   long. See Long, a.]
   1. To feel a strong or morbid desire or craving; to wish for
      something with eagerness; -- followed by an infinitive, or
      by after or for.

            I long to see you.                    --Rom. i. 11.

            I have longed after thy precepts.     --Ps. cxix.
                                                  40.

            I have longed for thy salvation.      --Ps. cxix.
                                                  174.

            Nicomedes, longing for herrings, was supplied with
            fresh ones . . . at a great distance from the sea.
                                                  --Arbuthnot.

   2. To belong; -- used with to, unto, or for. [Obs.]

            The labor which that longeth unto me. --Chaucer.
Longing \Long"ing\, n.
   An eager desire; a craving; a morbid appetite; an earnest
   wish; an aspiration.

         Put on my crown; I have immortal longings in me.
                                                  --Shak.