needs
Use Needs in a sentence
adverb
of necessity; necessarily (usually preceded or followed by must ): It must needs be so. It needs must be.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
noun
1.
a requirement, necessary duty, or obligation: There is no need for you to go there.
2.
a lack of something wanted or deemed necessary: to fulfill the needs of the assignment.
3.
urgent want, as of something requisite: He has no need of your charity.
4.
necessity arising from the circumstances of a situation or case: There is no need to worry.
5.
a situation or time of difficulty; exigency: to help a friend in need; to be a friend in need.
6.
a condition marked by the lack of something requisite: the need for leadership.
7.
destitution; extreme poverty: The family's need is acute.
verb (used with object)
8.
to have need of; require: to need money.
verb (used without object)
Idioms 9.
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.
10.
to be in need or want.
11.
to be necessary: There needs no apology.
12.
if need be, should the necessity arise: If need be, I can type the letters myself.
Origin:
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
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
Related forms
need·er, noun
un·need·ed, adjective
well-need·ed, adjective
Synonyms
2, 3. See lack. 3. requirement. 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. 5. emergency. 7. neediness, indigence, penury, privation. See poverty. 8. want, lack.
2, 3. See lack. 3. requirement. 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. 5. emergency. 7. neediness, indigence, penury, privation. See poverty. 8. want, lack.
Antonyms
7. wealth.
7. wealth.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To Needs
00:10
Needs
is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
need (niːd) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | (tr) to be in want of: to need money |
| 2. | (tr) to require or be required of necessity (to be or do something); be obliged: to need to do more work |
| 3. | ( |
| 4. | archaic (intr) to be essential or necessary to: there needs no reason for this |
| —n | |
| 5. | the fact or an instance of feeling the lack of something: he has need of a new coat |
| 6. | a requirement: the need for vengeance |
| 7. | necessity or obligation resulting from some situation: no need to be frightened |
| 8. | distress or extremity: a friend in need |
| 9. | extreme poverty or destitution; penury |
| [Old English nēad, nied; related to Old Frisian nēd, Old Saxon nōd, Old High German nōt] | |
| needs (niːdz) | |
| —adv | |
| 1. | ( |
| —pl n | |
| 2. | what is required; necessities: the needs of the third world; his needs are modest |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
need
O.E. nied (W.Saxon), ned (Mercian) "necessity, compulsion, duty," originally "violence, force," from P.Gmc. *nauthis (cf. O.N. nauðr, O.Fris. ned, M.Du. nood, Ger. Not, Goth. nauþs "need"), probably cognate with O.Pruss. nautin "need," and perhaps with O.C.S. nazda, Rus. nuzda, Pol. nedza "misery,
distress," from PIE *nau- "death, to be exhausted." The more common O.E. word for "need, necessity, want" was ðearf, but they were connected via a notion of "trouble, pain," and the two formed a compound, niedðearf "need, necessity, compulsion, thing needed." Nied also may have been infl. by O.E. neod "desire, longing," which was often spelled the same. Common in O.E. compounds, e.g. niedfaru "compulsory journey," a euphemism for "death;" niedhæmed "rape," the second element being an O.E. word meaning "sexual intercourse;" niedling "slave." Meaning "extreme poverty, destitution" is from c.1200. The verb is O.E. neodian "be necessary," from the noun. Phrase the needful "money" is attested from 1774. The adj. phrase need-to-know is attested from 1954.
needs
in archaic constructions involving must (late 14c.) is from O.E. nede, instr. and gen. sing. of nied (see need), used as an adverb reinforcing must, hence the genitive ending.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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