indispensable

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

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World English Dictionary

indispensable (ˌɪndɪˈspɛnsəb^əl)

—*adj*
1.	absolutely necessary; essential
2.	not to be disregarded or escaped: an indispensable role

—n
3.	an indispensable person or thing

indispensa'bility

—n

indis'pensableness

—n

indis'pensably

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

indispensable

1533, from M.L. indispensabilis, from in- "not" + dispensabilis (see dispense).

Example sentences

In less than ten years, e-mail and the web have become indispensable tools.

So he had to show homeowners that the company was indispensable.

Given the reflexive connection between thinking and reality, truth is not

indispensable for success.

The photographs of the neurons are great technical feats and are indispensable

to science for their descriptive nature.

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fundamental imperative integral jewel right-hand man sine qua non

Matching Quote

"The opposition is indispensable. A good statesman, like any other sensible human being, always learns more from his opponents than from his fervent supporters. For his supporters will push him to disaster unless his opponents show him where the dangers are. So if he is wise he will often pray to be delivered from his friends, because they will ruin him. But though it hurts, he ought also to pray never to be left without opponents; for they keep him on the path of reason and good sense."

-Walter Lippmann