Sentence:  Rud did not even attempt to fish. Chiffan caught nothing, and for the most part they paddled about the lake, pulled yellow and white water lilies out of sheer <WSD>acquisitiveness</WSD>, or sprawled in the punt and meditated under a great yellowing horse-chestnut that overhung the water, and occasionally plopped a conker through its glassy surface. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The quality of being acquisitive; propensity to acquire property; desire of possession.