Word.ws English Dictionary

does the needful

does the needful is the third-person singular simple present indicative of do the needful.

Meaning of do the needful

Verb

do the needful (third-person singular simple present does the needful, present participle doing the needful, simple past did the needful, past participle done the needful)

  1. (India, Nigeria, UK, dated, idiomatic) To do what is necessary or required.
    • My father had, generally speaking, his temper under complete self command, and his anger rarely indicated itself by words, except in a sort of dry testy manner to those who had displeased him. He never used threats or expressions of loud resentment. All was arranged with him on system and it was...1817, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 2, in Rob Roy, volume 1, Edinburgh: James Ballantyne and Co., published 1818, page 24

Questions about does the needful

What is does the needful the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Does the needful is the third-person singular simple present indicative of do the needful.

Words near does the needful in the dictionary

  1. does the impossible
  2. does the job
  3. does the math
  4. does the nasties
  5. does the nasty
  6. does the needful
  7. does the Pope shit in the woods
  8. does the Pope wear a funny hat
  9. does the power of good
  10. does the right thing
  11. does the rounds

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: does the needful (page history and authors); do the needful (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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