I. ˈnēd noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English ned, nede, from Old English nēd, nīed, nēad, nēod distress, force, necessity, need; akin to Old High German nōt distress, force, necessity, need, Old Norse nauth, Gothic nauths, and probably to Old English nēo corpse, Old Norse nār, Gothic naus; basic meaning: to be exhausted
1. : necessary duty : obligation
if need be
no need to apologize — B.K.Thorne
the need to pay taxes — Peter Scott
the need to evade in order to survive — S.D.Cutter
2.
a. : a want of something requisite, desirable, or useful
our daily needs
meet every need
a building adequate for the company's needs
eliminates all need for stitches and glue — Book Production
the urgent need for discussion — Manchester Guardian Weekly
order and discipline were the crying needs — Kemp Malone
the classless society in which each would receive according to his needs — C.I.Glicksberg
b. : a physiological or psychological requirement for the maintenance of the homeostasis of an organism
tissue needs
the need of a better education
fundamental needs (besides sex and organic satisfaction) are for prestige, security, and some form of generalized activity — Frederick Creedy
she experienced the need of being petted and made much of by a man — Robert Grant †1940
an equilibrium in which society's needs and the needs of the individual are one — W.H.Whyte
3. : a condition requiring supply or relief : exigency
in his need
at a time of need
whenever the need arises
a friend in need is a friend indeed
4. : want of the means of subsistence : destitution , poverty
the community provides for those in need
•
- at need
II. adverb
Etymology: Middle English nede, from Old English nēde, nīede, nēade, nēode, instrumental of nēd, nīed, nēad, nēod necessity
obsolete : needs
III. ˈnēd verb
( needed ; needed ; needing ; needs or need )
Etymology: Middle English needen, neden, from Old English nēodian to be necessary, from nēod necessity
intransitive verb
1. : to be in want
give to them who need
2. : to be needful : be necessary
playing as quietly as needed — Warwick Braithwaite
is less effective than needs be — Leo Wiener
transitive verb
: to be in need of : have cause or occasion for : require
children need milk
he needs advice
great art does not need a theory — Herbert Read
he does not need to be told when he is failing
we need to guard against the private seizure of power — T.W.Arnold
really need to ask ourselves — Frank Fremont-Smith
something urgently needs doing — Joaquin Noval
it needs little more than wise words — Barbara Ward
— sometimes used before an infinitive without to
I did not need appear — Herbert Hoover
one needs point out — J.B.Cabell
verbal auxiliary
: be under necessity or obligation to
the last group … we need deal with — W.E.Swinton
one need only look at the management … to realize — Wayne Morse
no necessitarian need ever abandon his hypothesis — L.S.Feuer
talks more than he need
he need not answer
need she explain
all the poet need do is to remind the reader — Joseph Jones
Synonyms: see lack