NEED • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Need

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verb

Need v. t. (past & past part. needed; pres. part. needing) To be in want of; to have cause or occasion for; to lack; to require, as supply or relief. "Other creatures all day long Rove idle, unemployed, and less need rest." Note: With another verb, need is used like an auxiliary, generally in a negative sentence expressing requirement or obligation, and in this use it undergoes no change of termination in the third person singular of the present tense. "And the lender need not fear he shall be injured."

Need v. i. To be wanted; to be necessary. "When we have done it, we have done all that is in our power, and all that needs."

noun

Need n.

A state that requires supply or relief; pressing occasion for something; necessity; urgent want. "And the city had no need of the sun." "I have no need to beg." "Be governed by your needs, not by your fancy."

Want of the means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution. "Famine is in thy cheeks; Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes."

That which is needful; anything necessary to be done; (pl.) necessary things; business. (Obs.)

Situation of need; peril; danger. (Obs.)

Synonyms: Exigency; emergency; strait; extremity; necessity; distress; destitution; poverty; indigence; want; penury. Need, Necessity. Necessity is stronger than need; it places us under positive compulsion. We are frequently under the necessity of going without that of which we stand very greatly in need. It is also with the corresponding adjectives; necessitous circumstances imply the direct pressure of suffering; needy circumstances, the want of aid or relief.

adverb

Need adv. Of necessity. See Needs. (Obs.)

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Etymology of 'Need'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Need" Quotes from Famous Books

... the need of securing permanence for his work by obtaining the conversion of the Pictish rulers, and thus he did not hesitate to approach King Brude in his castle on the banks of the River Ness. St. Comgall and St. Canice were Columcille's companions ...

— The Glories of Ireland • Edited by Joseph Dunn and P.J. Lennox

... nothing to do with it. Listen to me. Take these 700 florins, and go and play roulette with them. Win as much for me as you can, for I am badly in need of money." ...

— The Gambler • Fyodor Dostoyevsky

... I had the pleasure of acting as a referee when he and a stranger, who Terry fancied had insulted him, did really have a fist-fight; I gathered up their hats and neck-ties and kept out of the way, ready to call assistance if need be, which fortunately was not necessary, for they only rolled around in the dirt a little, and Terry only had his chin smashed ...

— An Anarchist Woman • Hutchins Hapgood

... dislike of New England. They manifest themselves sometimes deliciously, sometimes disagreeably. In the midst of a story remote as possible from the occurrences of modern life, suddenly turn up remarks upon the apostolic origin of bishops, or the desirability of written prayers, and the need of a liturgy. The impropriety of their introduction, from a literary point of view, Cooper never had sufficient delicacy of taste to feel. Less excusable were the attacks he made upon those whose religious views differed from his own. The insults he sometimes offered ...

— James Fenimore Cooper - American Men of Letters • Thomas R. Lounsbury

... beach to the ridge of the hill, for which we were making, the distance was about a mile, the ground rising gently all the way; but the going was comparatively easy, for by making slight detours here and there we were able to progress without the need to force our way through dense undergrowth; a gentle saunter of about half an hour's duration therefore took us to the point for which I was aiming. Arrived there, we were afforded a clear view eastward, when we discovered, as I had suspected, that we had practically reached the ...

— The Strange Adventures of Eric Blackburn • Harry Collingwood

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