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Definitions

need

[need] / nid /






Usage

What are other ways to say need? The verb need often suggests urgency, stressing the necessity of supplying what is lacking: to need an operation, better food, a match to light the fire. Require, which expresses necessity as strongly as need, occurs most frequently in serious or formal contexts: Your presence at the hearing is required. Successful experimentation requires careful attention to detail. Lack means to be without or to have less than a desirable quantity of something: to lack courage, sufficient money, enough members to make a quorum. 

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Forward guidance has high-minded objectives: making the Fed more transparent and accountable and giving markets the information they need to adapt to future policy shifts without undue surprises.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 16, 2026

I was pitching fine and you don’t pull someone out in the fourth inning just because you need a hit at the time,” John said last year.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 16, 2026

To go ahead with a change of use under the new rules, developers will need to provide evidence that there is no reasonable prospect of keeping a pub business running.

From BBC Aug. 16, 2026

Some of what you need may come from the market, especially at one with eggs, cheese, dairy or even pizza dough on offer; the rest can happily come from your pantry or the supermarket.

From Salon Aug. 16, 2026

I need her to tell me that what I’m thinking isn’t really what I think I’m hearing.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Reduced river flows have made it harder to meet the needs of states downstream of Powell, leading to more frequent deficits over the last 25 years.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 16, 2026

Despite its efficiency gains, Moonshot’s Kimi K3 model still needs around the same amount of high-cost memory as an advanced OpenAI open model, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 16, 2026

He needs to be off the meds for at least 72 hours before he can be released, and he also needs to start displaying normal, wild behaviors, including aggression.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 15, 2026

And the union's president Adam Hansen told BBC Sport there needs to be better helmet safety as cyclists hit record-breaking speeds during races.

From BBC Aug. 15, 2026

“I don’t know. He needs me. I don’t want to disappoint him.”

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Nor could Reiner credibly claim that he needed the money to live, lawyers wrote.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 16, 2026

Make the corn sauce: Simmer half the corn with 1 cup stock for about 12 minutes, until tender, adding more stock if needed.

From Salon Aug. 16, 2026

The spread between the cost of producing a barrel of gasoline and the cost of the crude oil needed to produce it — known among traders as the “crack spread” — has widened sharply.

From MarketWatch Aug. 16, 2026

But since the results differed by ethnicity, further research is needed in larger samples to replicate the differences, she said.

From Science Daily Aug. 16, 2026

And it was just the one Clare needed to talk to.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

After bowling the hosts out for 284 and needing 57 to win, Mominul Haque cut Beau Webster to the boundary for the winning runs to seal the nation's first Test victory in Australia.

From BBC Aug. 16, 2026

Higher borrowing costs would sock it to home buyers, heavy credit-card users and anyone needing a loan.

From MarketWatch Aug. 15, 2026

That is a real weakness in life, needing drama.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 13, 2026

Chesney has continuously stressed the importance of engaging different groups, emphasizing the size of UCLA’s alumni base and needing the school’s football team to be present among different communities.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 11, 2026

He let go of the leash, needing both hands free to push his way through the brush.

From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret




Vocabulary lists containing need


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