need
/niːd/ · need
noun
- A requirement for something; something needed. Food, clothing, and shelter are basic needs for every person.
- Lack of means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution. After the factory closed, many families fell into need.
verb
- To require; to be necessary for. You need to finish the report before the deadline.
- To be in want of; to lack. The garden needs water after weeks of drought.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Did you know? The word ‘need’ is cognate with German ‘Not’, and its Old English root gave rise to the modern phrase ‘need is the mother of invention’, echoing the older proverb ‘necessity is the mother of invention’.