'Need' definitions:

Definition of 'need'

From: WordNet
noun
A condition requiring relief; "she satisfied his need for affection"; "God has no need of men to accomplish His work"; "there is a demand for jobs" [syn: need, demand]
noun
Anything that is necessary but lacking; "he had sufficient means to meet his simple needs"; "I tried to supply his wants" [syn: need, want]
noun
The psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior; "we did not understand his motivation"; "he acted with the best of motives" [syn: motivation, motive, need]
noun
A state of extreme poverty or destitution; "their indigence appalled him"; "a general state of need exists among the homeless" [syn: indigence, need, penury, pauperism, pauperization]
verb
Require as useful, just, or proper; "It takes nerve to do what she did"; "success usually requires hard work"; "This job asks a lot of patience and skill"; "This position demands a lot of personal sacrifice"; "This dinner calls for a spectacular dessert"; "This intervention does not postulate a patient's consent" [syn: necessitate, ask, postulate, need, require, take, involve, call for, demand] [ant: eliminate, obviate, rid of]
verb
Have need of; "This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner" [syn: want, need, require]
verb
Have or feel a need for; "always needing friends and money"

Definition of 'Need'

From: GCIDE
  • Need \Need\ (n[=e]d), n. [OE. need, neod, nede, AS. ne['a]d, n[=y]d; akin to D. nood, G. not, noth, Icel. nau[eth]r, Sw. & Dan. n["o]d, Goth. nau[thorn]s.]
  • 1. A state that requires supply or relief; pressing occasion for something; necessity; urgent want. [1913 Webster]
  • And the city had no need of the sun. --Rev. xxi. 23. [1913 Webster]
  • I have no need to beg. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Be governed by your needs, not by your fancy. --Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Want of the means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • Famine is in thy cheeks; Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. That which is needful; anything necessary to be done; (pl.) necessary things; business. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Situation of need; peril; danger. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn: Exigency; emergency; strait; extremity; necessity; distress; destitution; poverty; indigence; want; penury.
  • Usage: Need, Necessity. Necessity is stronger than need; it places us under positive compulsion. We are frequently under the necessity of going without that of which we stand very greatly in need. It is also with the corresponding adjectives; necessitous circumstances imply the direct pressure of suffering; needy circumstances, the want of aid or relief. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Need'

From: GCIDE
  • Need \Need\ (n[=e]d), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Needed; p. pr. & vb. n. Needing.] [See Need, n. Cf. AS. n[=y]dan to force, Goth. nau[thorn]jan.] To be in want of; to have cause or occasion for; to lack; to require, as supply or relief. [1913 Webster]
  • Other creatures all day long Rove idle, unemployed, and less need rest. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: With another verb, need is used like an auxiliary, generally in a negative sentence expressing requirement or obligation, and in this use it undergoes no change of termination in the third person singular of the present tense. "And the lender need not fear he shall be injured." --Anacharsis (Trans. ). [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Need'

From: GCIDE
  • Need \Need\, v. i. To be wanted; to be necessary. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • When we have done it, we have done all that is in our power, and all that needs. --Locke. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Need'

From: GCIDE
  • Need \Need\, adv. Of necessity. See Needs. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'need'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Need'