English Explanatory Dictionary

need

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A requirement for something; something needed.
  2. A desire or craving for the satisfaction of a requirement perceived as essential or primal.
  3. Lack of means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution.
verb
  1. To have an absolute requirement for.
  2. To want strongly; to feel that one must have something.
  3. To be obliged or required (to do something).
  4. To be required; to be necessary.
  5. To be necessary (to someone).

Pronunciation

nēd /niːd/ [nɪi̯d] /nid/ En-us-need.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-need.wav

Word forms

need needs needing needed no-table-tags glossary needest neededst needeth

Etymology

From Middle English need, nede, a merger of two terms: * Old English nīed (West Saxon), nēd (Mercian), nēad (“necessity, compulsion, want”), from Proto-West Germanic *naudi, from Proto-Germanic *naudiz, from Proto-Indo-European *neh₂w- (“death”). * Old English nēod (“desire, longing”), from Proto-West Germanic *niudi (“desire, eagerness”), from Proto-Indo-European *new- (“to incline, tend, move, push, nod, wave”).

Synonyms

occasion use be in need of require desire wish for would like want will be without lack

Related words

in need

Derived words

a friend in need is a friend indeed basic needs call-by-need hour of need if need be if needs be in dire need of in need need-based need-blind needcessity need-fire needful needfully needfulness needily neediness needless needlessly needlessness needly need more time in the oven need-not need one's eyes checked needs analysis needs-blind needsome needways needwise needworthy needy no need pass-by-need preneed special needs time the deed to the need a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle baby needs new shoes citation needed do you need an invitation do you need help do you need to use the bathroom every king needs a queen feeling good wine needs no bush I need ... I need a guide I need to vomit last thing one needs like one needs a hole in the head needable needed unneeded needer need I say more needling needment need no introduction need not need one's bumps

Translations

Bulgarian: необходимо е Dutch: nodig zijn Finnish: täytyä Finnish: pitää Finnish: olla välttämätöntä Spanish: tener que Spanish: deber
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on N Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary