a requirement, necessary duty, or obligation: There is no need for you to go there.
a lack of something wanted or deemed necessary: to fulfill the needs of the assignment.
urgent want, as of something requisite: He has no need of your charity.
necessity arising from the circumstances of a situation or case: There is no need to worry.
a situation or time of difficulty; exigency: to help a friend in need; to be a friend in need.
a condition marked by the lack of something requisite: the need for leadership.
destitution; extreme poverty: The family's need is acute.
verb (used with object)
to have need of; require: to need money.
verb (used without object)
to be under an obligation (used as an auxiliary, typically in an interrogative or in a negative statement, and followed by infinitive, in certain cases without to; in the 3d person singular the form is need, not needs): He need not go.
to be in need or want.
to be necessary: There needs no apology.
Idioms for need
if need be, should the necessity arise: If need be, I can type the letters myself.
Origin of need
before 900; (noun) Middle English nede,Old English nēd (WSaxon nīed), cognate with German Not,Old Norse nauth,Gothic nauths; (v.) Middle English neden,Old English nēodian, derivative of the noun
SYNONYMS FOR need
3 requirement.
5 emergency.
7 neediness, indigence, penury, privation.
8 want, lack.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR need ON THESAURUS.COM
ANTONYMS FOR need
7 wealth.
SEE ANTONYMS FOR need ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for need
2, 3. See lack. 4. Need,necessity imply a want, a lack, or a demand, which must be filled. Need, a word of Old English origin, has connotations that make it strong in emotional appeal: the need to be appreciated.Necessity, a word of Latin origin, is more formal and impersonal or objective; though much stronger than need in expressing urgency or imperative demand, it is less effective in appealing to the emotions: Water is a necessity for living things.7. See poverty.
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We need to recover and grow the idea that the proper answer to bad speech is more and better speech.
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To do so is to deify a celebrity for being what we need them to be, while willfully ignoring who they really are.
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The need for an Ebola vaccine in West Africa has never been greater.
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“For conveniences and shops where you can buy what you need,” it is much easier, he said.
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The truth is, that we need both the discipline of harness and the abundant nourishment of the free pasture.
The Intellectual Life|=Philip Gilbert Hamerton
"You need not be afraid of that any more, Ronnie," his uncle told him calmly.
The Kingdom of the Blind|E. Phillips Oppenheim
Ah, she need have no fear; I would not trouble her with so much as a word.
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I need not repeat the number of his great and glorious actions, which mark him the General and the hero.
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He forgot everything but the need of getting out of sight of Mr. Blacksnake as soon as ever he could.
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British Dictionary definitions for need
need
/ (niːd) /
verb
(tr)to be in want ofto need money
(tr)to require or be required of necessity (to be or do something); be obligedto need to do more work
(takes an infinitive without to)used as an auxiliary in negative and interrogative sentences to express necessity or obligation, and does not add -s when used with he, she, it, and singular nounsneed he go?
(intr)archaicto be essential or necessary tothere needs no reason for this
noun
the fact or an instance of feeling the lack of somethinghe has need of a new coat
a requirementthe need for vengeance
necessity or obligation resulting from some situationno need to be frightened
distress or extremitya friend in need
extreme poverty or destitution; penury
See also needs
Word Origin for need
Old English nēad, nied; related to Old Frisian nēd, Old Saxon nōd, Old High German nōt