Lets see.......to me, there are many things that I want.....they are things that I would like to have in my life....things I think might even make my life easier or give me a sense of satisfaction.

A craving to me is something I have to have.....I can't take a no answer & will do anything to get what it is that I crave.....& I mean.....DO ANYTHING. Like when I was pregnant. I came home from one of my college night classes. I had to have BBQ potato chips. I needed the taste of BBQ potatoe chips....I couldn't stand not being able to eat the junk food I had kept out of my live for the past 9 months. It was after midnight.....& I sent my husband to the store to get me a bag of BBQ potatoe chips. I sat down & ate the whole package. I was somewhat satisfied when I ate my last crumb.....but still could have eaten more.......I so enjoyed every moment of the satisfaction of my craving. Sometimes, my cravings will continue after it is first satisfied & will continue having to satisfy the craving until it goes away.

The funny part of the BBQ potatoe chip craving was that I woke up in the night with horrible cramping feeling. I thought I was having food poisoning or maybe the greasy potatoe chips didn't set well after so long of keeping that kind of food out of my body. The feeling continued into the morning & then the sick to my stomach hit. I ended up calling my Gyn & he had me come in immediately.......duh.....I was already 7 1/2 cm dialated (& I was to have a c-section). How silly could I be.....but no one told me what labour would feel like.

For me, cravings are something I just can't live without & will do anything to get. A want is something I would like to have, but isn't something I can't live without.

Wonder what our great dictionary would give as the definitions: (I just looked it up)
A want is something we desire grately.......a crave is something we intensely desire.

Sounds like the difference is defined by the level of how much we actually want something. When we can live without it, but would like it, it is a want. If we can't live without it & want it intensely, more than anything else, it becomes a crave.

The terms are used for other meanings also, but think that this meaning is what we were looking at here.

Hurray for internet definitions,
Debbie