needs
/niːdz//nidz/
needs adverb: either directly or indirectly preceded or followed by an auxiliary verb, often must: of necessity or need; necessarily, indispensably. Also the plural of need.
Adverb
needs (not comparable)
- Either directly or indirectly preceded or followed by an auxiliary verb, often must: of necessity or need; necessarily, indispensably.
- As touching corporal puniſhments and penance, as faſting, diſciplin, hare cloth and other chaſtiſements, it behoueth thee herein to vſe good diſcretiõ, taking ſuch as help to repreſſe the aſſaults and temptations of the fleſh, and leuing others that may be hurtful, not yeelding herein to the heats...1584, Iaspar Loarte [i.e., Gaspart Loarte], “Certaine General Aduertissementes Necessary for suche as Minde to Serue God Sincerely”, in James Sancer [pseudonym; Stephen Brinkley], transl., The...
- To haue no Schreene between this part he plaid, / And him he plaid it for, he needes will be / Abſolute Millaine,[…]1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
Proper noun capitalized: Needs
Needs (plural Needses)
- A surname.
Also used as
needs is also the plural of need.
needs is also the third-person singular simple present indicative of need.
needs meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
needs in Hindi
- ज़रूरतें
needs in Tamil
- தேவைகளை
needs in Urdu
- ضروریات, ضرورتاں, ضرورتوں
needs in Bengali
- চাহিদাগুলি
More languagesFewer languages
- needs in Kannada
- ಅಗತ್ಯತೆಗಳು, ಅಗತ್ಯಗಳು
Examples of needs in a sentence
- Sole partner and ſole part of all theſe joyes, / Dearer thy ſelf then all; needs muſt the Power / That made us, and for us this ample World / Be infinitly good, […]1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert...
- ―And the maſter of my hotel, ſaid I, as I concluded it, will needs have it, Monſieur le Count, that I ſhall be ſent to the Baſtile— […]1768, Mr. Yorick [pseudonym; Laurence Sterne], “The Passport. Versailles.”, in A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, volume II...
- So ſtooping down, as needs he muſt / Who cannot ſit upright, / He graſp'd the mane with both his hands / And eke with all his might.1782, William Cowper, “The Diverting History of John Gilpin, […]”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], published...
- Vulcan was a smith as well as Harry Wynd; he would needs wed Venus, and our Chronicles tell us what came of it.1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume III...
Forms of needs
| Adverb | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | needes |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Needses |
Origin of needs
From Middle English nedes (“of necessity, necessarily; inevitably, unavoidably”) [and other forms], from Old English nēdes, nīedes (“of necessity; not willingly”), from nīed + -es (suffix forming adverbs from nouns). The English word is equivalent to need + -'s (possessive marker) and hence to need + -s (suffix forming adverbs).
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Variant of Nead.
Words formed from needs
Phrases with needs
- needs to
- basic needs
- if needs be
- manly needs
- special needs
- needs analyses
- needs analysis
- baby needs new shoes
- last thing one needs
- needs no introduction
- needs one's bumps felt
- good wine needs no bush
10 more phrasesFewer phrases
- every king needs a queen
- needs one's eyes checked
- needs one's bumps feeling
- needs one's head examined
- needs more time in the oven
- like one needs a hole in the head
- with friends like that, who needs enemies
- with friends like these, who needs enemies
- with friends like those, who needs enemies
- a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle
Words that rhyme with needs
Questions about needs
- What does needs mean?
- Needs means either directly or indirectly preceded or followed by an auxiliary verb, often must: of necessity or need; necessarily, indispensably.
- What is needs in Hindi?
- Needs in Hindi is ज़रूरतें. See Needs meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use needs in a sentence?
- Sole partner and ſole part of all theſe joyes, / Dearer thy ſelf then all; needs muſt the Power / That made us, and for us this ample World / Be infinitly good, […]
- What part of speech is needs?
- Needs can be an adverb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce needs?
- Needs is pronounced /niːdz/ (UK).
Words near needs in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: needs (page history and authors); Needs (page history and authors); needs (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); needs (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); needs (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); needs (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); needs (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-needs.wav, En-us-needs.ogg.
Cite this entry: “needs.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/needs. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.