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Definition of "need" []

  • A condition or situation in which something is required or wanted: crops in need of water; a need for affection. (noun)
  • Something required or wanted; a requisite: "Those of us who led the charge for these women's issues ... shared a common vision in the needs of women” ( Olympia Snowe). (noun)
  • Necessity; obligation: There is no need for you to go. (noun)
  • A condition of poverty or misfortune: The family is in dire need. (noun)
  • To be under the necessity of or the obligation to: They need not come. (auxiliary-verb)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "need" in a sentence
  • "However, as president we need a leader who can bring people together and get things done for the good of all Americans, that is why we * need* Obama."
  • "But it's not the sex or the kid who has a baby at 17 or the fact that people who need to can get divorced, it's that you don't *need* a reason to get divorced anymore, and the sex outside of marriage is *expected* and that it's not about helping someone through a bad time it's about redefining the "bad time" as something good."
  • "If I could be sure that all parents who opt their kids out of the courses would teach them what they need to know -- not what the parents want them to know, but *need* to know, then I wouldn't have said what I said."