need Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a condition requiring relief
demand.
- she satisfied his need for affection
- God has no need of men to accomplish His work
- there is a demand for jobs
noun anything that is necessary but lacking
want.
- he had sufficient means to meet his simple needs
- I tried to supply his wants
noun the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
motive; motivation.
- we did not understand his motivation
- he acted with the best of motives
noun a state of extreme poverty or destitution
pauperization; penury; pauperism; indigence.
- their indigence appalled him
- a general state of need exists among the homeless
verb require as useful, just, or proper
call for; require; necessitate; involve; take; demand; ask; postulate.
- It takes nerve to do what she did
- success usually requires hard work
- This job asks a lot of patience and skill
- This position demands a lot of personal sacrifice
- This dinner calls for a spectacular dessert
- This intervention does not postulate a patient's consent
verb have need of
require; want.
- This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner
verb have or feel a need for
- always needing friends and money

OE. need, neod, nede, AS. neád, n&ymac;d; akin to D. nood, G. not, noth, Icel. nau&edh;r, Sw. & Dan. nöd, Goth. naups.

A state that requires supply or relief; pressing occasion for something; necessity; urgent want.
And the city had no need of the sun. Rev. xxi. 23.

I have no need to beg. Shak.

Be governed by your needs, not by your fancy. Jer. Taylor.
Want of the means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution. Chaucer.
Famine is in thy cheeks; Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes. Shak.
That which is needful; anything necessary to be done; (pl.) necessary things; business. Obs. Chaucer.
Situation of need; peril; danger. Obs. Chaucer. Syn. -- 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.

See Need, n. Cf. AS. ndan to force, Goth. naujan.

imperfect & past participle Needed; present participle & verbal noun 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. Milton.
✍ 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." Anacharsis (Trans. ).

To be wanted; to be necessary. Chaucer.
When we have done it, we have done all that is in our power, and all that needs. Locke.