missing
♦ miss|ing /m'ɪsɪŋ/
1 [ADJ] usu v-link ADJ
If something is missing, it is not in its usual place, and you cannot find it.
It was only an hour or so later that I discovered that my gun was missing...
The playing cards had gone missing.
2 [ADJ]
If a part of something is missing, it has been removed or has come off, and has not been replaced.
Three buttons were missing from his shirt.
3 [ADJ] usu v-link ADJ, oft ADJ from n
If you say that something is missing, you mean that it has not been included, and you think that it should have been.
She had given me an incomplete list. One name was missing from it.
4 [ADJ]
Someone who is missing cannot be found, and it is not known whether they are alive or dead.
Five people died in the explosion and more than one thousand were injured. One person is still missing.
[PHRASE] usu v-link PHR
If a member of the armed forces is missing in action, they have not returned from a battle, their body has not been found, and they are not thought to have been captured.miss|ing link (missing links)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
The missing link in a situation is the piece of information or evidence that you need in order to make your knowledge or understanding of something complete.
We're dealing with probably the biggest missing link in what we know about human evolution.miss|ing per|son (missing persons)
[N-COUNT]
A missing person has suddenly left their home without telling their family where they are going, and it is not known whether they are alive or dead.
1 [ADJ] usu v-link ADJ
If something is missing, it is not in its usual place, and you cannot find it.
It was only an hour or so later that I discovered that my gun was missing...
The playing cards had gone missing.
2 [ADJ]
If a part of something is missing, it has been removed or has come off, and has not been replaced.
Three buttons were missing from his shirt.
3 [ADJ] usu v-link ADJ, oft ADJ from n
If you say that something is missing, you mean that it has not been included, and you think that it should have been.
She had given me an incomplete list. One name was missing from it.
4 [ADJ]
Someone who is missing cannot be found, and it is not known whether they are alive or dead.
Five people died in the explosion and more than one thousand were injured. One person is still missing.
[PHRASE] usu v-link PHR
If a member of the armed forces is missing in action, they have not returned from a battle, their body has not been found, and they are not thought to have been captured.miss|ing link (missing links)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
The missing link in a situation is the piece of information or evidence that you need in order to make your knowledge or understanding of something complete.
We're dealing with probably the biggest missing link in what we know about human evolution.miss|ing per|son (missing persons)
[N-COUNT]
A missing person has suddenly left their home without telling their family where they are going, and it is not known whether they are alive or dead.