need
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.
to have need of; require: to need money.
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 about need
if need be, should the necessity arise: If need be, I can type the letters myself.
Origin of need
1synonym study For need
Other words for need
Opposites for need
Other words from need
- needer, noun
- un·need·ed, adjective
- well-needed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for need
/ (niːd) /
(tr) to be in want of: to need money
(tr) to require or be required of necessity (to be or do something); be obliged: to 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 nouns: need he go?
(intr) archaic to be essential or necessary to: there needs no reason for this
the fact or an instance of feeling the lack of something: he has need of a new coat
a requirement: the need for vengeance
necessity or obligation resulting from some situation: no need to be frightened
distress or extremity: a friend in need
extreme poverty or destitution; penury
Origin of need
1- See also needs
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with need
In addition to the idiom beginning with need
- needle in a haystack
- needless to say
- need like a hole in the head
also see:
- cry for (crying need for).
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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