need

/niːd//nid/

need noun: a requirement for something; something needed.

Noun

need (countable and uncountable, plural needs)

A requirement for something; something needed.
- There's no need to speculate; we can easily find out for sure.
- She grew irritated with his constant need for attention.
Synonyms:

occasion, use
A desire or craving for the satisfaction of a requirement perceived as essential or primal.
Lack of means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution.
- Famine is in thy cheeks;
  Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

Verb

need (third-person singular simple present needs, present participle needing, simple past and past participle needed)

(transitive) To have an absolute requirement for.
- Living things need water to survive.
- You do not always need to go to the library to study. You may use the Internet.
(transitive) To want strongly; to feel that one must have something.
- After ten days of hiking, I needed a shower and a shave.
- Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled...2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4
Synonyms:

desire, wish for, would like, want, will, be without, lack
(modal) To be obliged or required (to do something).
- I need not go if I don't want to, need I?
- I was wondering if I need fill in more forms. - No, that's the only one you need fill out.
(intransitive) To be required; to be necessary.
- When we have done it, we have done our duty, and all that is in our power, and indeed all that needs.1694, [John Locke], chapter 21, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Thomas Dring, […]; and Samuel Manship, […], →OCLC, book II, page 143
- Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around.2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21
(obsolete, transitive) To be necessary (to someone).
- More ample spirit, then hitherto was wount, / Here needes me […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

need meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

need in Hindi

something required: आवश्यकता āvaśyaktā, ज़रूरत zarūrat
to have an absolute requirement for: मुहताज होना muhtāj honā
to want strongly: ज़रूरत होना zarūrat honā

need in Marathi

something required: आवश्यकता āvaśyaktā, गरज garaj
to have an absolute requirement for: गरज असणे garaj asṇe

need in Urdu

something required: ضرورت zarūrat

More languagesFewer languages

need in Bengali: দরকার dôrkar, প্রয়োজন proẏōjon
need in Telugu: అవసరము avasaramu
need in Malayalam: ആവശ്യം āvaśyaṁ, വേണം vēṇaṁ, വേണ്ടത് vēṇṭatŭ, ആവശ്യമാണ് āvaśyamāṇŭ
need in Kannada: ಆವಶ್ಯಕ್ತೇ āvaśyaktē
need in Punjabi: لوڑ loṛ, ਲੋੜ loṛ, ਲੋੜਨਾ loṛnā, ਜ਼ਰੂਰਤ zarūrat
need in Gujarati: આવશ્યકતા āvaśyaktā
need in Sanskrit: प्रयोजन prayojana
need in Assamese: লগা loga, লাগ lag
need in Tagalog: pangangailangan, kailangan, mangailangan, kailanganin
need in Arabic: حَاجَة ḥāja, ضَرُورَة ḍarūra, اِحْتِيَاج iḥtiyāj, اِحْتَاجَ iḥtāja
need in Malay: keperluan, perlu, memerlukan
need in Indonesian: memerlukan, perlu
need in Persian: نیاز niyâz, ضرورت zarurat, احتیاج ehteyâj, احتیاج داشتن ehtiyâj dâštan
need in Thai: ต้องการ dtɔ̂ng-gaan, จำเป็น jam-bpen
need in Vietnamese: nhu cầu, cần, muốn, cần phải
need in Myanmar: လို lui, လိုအပ် luiap

Examples of need in a sentence

Our instant needs are not being met.
I've always tried to have few needs beyond food, clothing and shelter.
She needed convincing that I was what she really needed.
I need never have packed my set of sunglasses - it rained all day every day.
Be governed by your needs, not by your fancy.1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC:
And that, together with the inherent yuckiness of the subject, means that many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair.2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:

All 40 example sentences with need

Synonyms of need

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

1 more synonymsFewer synonyms

will

All synonyms of need

Forms of need

Noun
plural	needs
Verb
third-person singular present	needs
present participle	needing
past participle	needed
past	needed
second-person singular present (archaic)	needest
second-person singular past (archaic)	neededst
third-person singular present (archaic)	needeth

Past tense of need: needed

Plural of need: needs

Origin of need

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”).

From Middle English neden, from Old English nēodian.

Words formed from need

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
manly needs
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 doctor
I need a guide
I need an interpreter
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

Phrases with need

1 more phrasesFewer phrases

you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

Words that rhyme with need

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about need

What does need mean?: Need means a requirement for something; something needed.
What is need in Hindi?: Need in Hindi is आवश्यकता (āvaśyaktā), ज़रूरत (zarūrat), मुहताज होना (muhtāj honā). See Need meaning in Hindi.
How do you use need in a sentence?: Our instant needs are not being met.
What part of speech is need?: Need can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce need?: Need is pronounced /niːd/ (UK).
What is the plural of need?: The plural of need is needs.

Words near need in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: need (page history and authors); لوڑ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); આવશ્યકતા (Gujarati) (page history and authors); प्रयोजन (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); লগা (Assamese) (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-need.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-need.wav.

Cite this entry: “need.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/need. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.