require
Syllables: re·quire/ɹɪˈkwaɪə//ɹɪˈkwaɪɹ/
require verb: to demand, to insist upon (having); to call for authoritatively.
Verb
require (third-person singular simple present requires, present participle requiring, simple past and past participle required)
- To demand, to insist upon (having); to call for authoritatively.
- "I am Miss Newbury," I announced, "and I require to be shown to my room immediately, if you please."1998, Joan Wolf, The Gamble, Warner Books
- ‘Regrettably, I have concluded, after considering the matter over Christmas[…], that I can no longer maintain the high standard of service I require of myself, meet the demands of office and cope with the pressures of public life, without my health deteriorating further.’2009 December 29, Vikram Dodd, The Guardian
- Naturally to demand (something) as indispensable; to need, to call for as necessary.
- Chronic pain is occasionally a sign of a very serious problem, like brain tumors, and can require surgery.1972 June 5, “Aid for Aching Heads”, in Time
- A weapon small enough to put on a missile would require uranium enriched to more than 90% U-235.2009 February 7, Julian Borger, The Guardian
- To demand (of someone) to do something.
- It is required (of me) that I give evidence in court.
- After Aug 3 all salesgirls will be required to wear only one style of skirt while on duty: the midi.1970 June 29, “Compulsory Midi”, in Time
- Synonyms:
- provide
- To ask (someone) for something; to request; to beseech.
- I requyre yow lete vs be sworne to gyders that neuer none of vs shalle after this day haue adoo with other, and there with alle syre Tristram and sire Lamorak sware that neuer none of hem shold fyghte ageynst other nor for wele, nor for woo.1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum XI”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book IX, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer...
- I requyre the in the name of god, that thou torment me nott.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Mark
require meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
require in Tamil
- வேண்டு, இன்றியமையாத்தாயிரு, வலிந்து கோரு, விரும்பு
require in Urdu
- درخواست کرنا, مانگنا, طلب کرنا, ضروری کرنا
require in Bengali
- require, need, take, spend
- লাগানো laganō
require in Malayalam
- to require; to need
- വേണ്ടുക vēṇṭuka
More languagesFewer languages
- require in Kannada
- ಬೇಕಾಗು, ಅಗತ್ಯವಾಗು, ಆವಶ್ಯಕವಾಗು, ಸೆಲವಿಕ್ಕು
- require in Sanskrit
- याच् yāc
- require in Arabic
- اِقْتَضَى iqtaḍā, تَطَلَّبَ taṭallaba
- require in Vietnamese
- yêu cầu
Examples of require in a sentence
- Conditioning would require exposition to any sentence before being uttered, which isn’t the case.
- The mayor rewarded his cronies with cushy plums, requiring little work for handsome pay.
- The contract requires that the party of the first part pay the fee.
Synonyms of require
Forms of require
| third-person singular present | requires |
|---|---|
| present participle | requiring |
| past participle | required |
| past | required |
Origin of require
From Old French requerre (whence Modern French requérir), from Latin requīrō (“to require, seek, ask for”, literally “to seek back”), from re- (“back; again”) + quaerō (“to seek”, whence query).
Words formed from require
Words that rhyme with require
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- choir
- desire
- esquire
- inspire
- tire
- acquire
- admire
- dire
- empire
- respire
- sire
- transpire
- trier
- dryer
- friar
- fryer
- gyre
- lyre
- mire
- misfire
- underfire
- aspire
- bemire
- buyer
- conspire
- inquire
- overfire
- perspire
- quire
- tyre
- attire
- briar
- crier
- higher
- lier
- overtire
- Pryor
- pyre
- re-retire
- retrochoir
- rewire
- supplier
- suspire
- underwire
- unretire
- afire
- byre
- drier
Questions about require
- What does require mean?
- Require means to demand, to insist upon (having); to call for authoritatively.
- What is require in Tamil?
- Require in Tamil is வேண்டு, இன்றியமையாத்தாயிரு, வலிந்து கோரு. See Require meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is require?
- Require is a verb.
- How do you pronounce require?
- Require is pronounced /ɹɪˈkwaɪə/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of require?
- The past tense of require is required.
Words near require in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: require (page history and authors); require (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); require (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); লাগানো (Bengali) (page history and authors); വേണ്ടുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); require (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); याच् (Sanskrit) (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-require.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-require.wav.
Cite this entry: “require.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/require. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
