Word.ws English Dictionary

needs must when the devil drives

needs must when the devil drives proverb: there is sometimes no choice but to do some specific thing.

Proverb

needs must when the devil drives

  1. There is sometimes no choice but to do some specific thing.
    • He needs must goe, the Devil drives.1664, Charles Cotton, Scarronides; or, Virgile Travestie
    • My poor body, madam, requires it: I am driven on by the flesh; and he must needs go that the devil drives.1623, William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well

Synonyms of needs must when the devil drives

Origin of needs must when the devil drives

Originally “needs must he go whom the devil drives”, where needs is an adverb with the sense “of necessity”.

Questions about needs must when the devil drives

What does needs must when the devil drives mean?
Needs must when the devil drives means there is sometimes no choice but to do some specific thing.
What part of speech is needs must when the devil drives?
Needs must when the devil drives is a proverb.

Words near needs must when the devil drives in the dictionary

  1. needs
  2. needs analyses
  3. needs analysis
  4. needs more time in the oven
  5. needs must
  6. needs must when the devil drives
  7. needs no introduction
  8. needs one's bumps feeling
  9. needs one's bumps felt
  10. needs one's eyes checked
  11. needs one's head examined

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: needs must when the devil drives (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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