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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:

She had a lot more free rein to experiment with different sales models, without a need for a centralized directive or a one-size-fits all solution.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

Energy generation facilities of 50MW need planning permission from the Welsh government.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Washington's envoy to the UN Mike Waltz refused to comment on the report, but said Friday: "We have always said we just simply need the best."

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

If I don’t ever do that, I won’t know, so I need to do it.’”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

You need to study the currents, the eddies, and the waves.”

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

In early October, Shedd said it knew some of the Marineland belugas "could have substantial, longstanding medical needs".

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

“Anything that is going to inhibit housing needs to be examined,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

"This needs to be addressed in a different way," the neighbor said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

The eurozone’s biggest borrower needs to tread a delicate political path because actually canceling bonds would punish savers in many other countries too.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

“I still believe it’s what you do next that matters. But you’ve yet to admit how much you could harm your family. If you did, you would do what needs to be done.”

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Developer Curtis Hall said the plant, which could operate for up to five years, may be needed if the site cannot get on the national grid quick enough.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said the company has not breached the law and that temporary layoffs are needed due to tariff pressures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Mejia’s office said in a press release Friday that it needed those details and more “to ascertain the financial status of the 2028 Olympic Games.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

At the EU level, Kallas said the European Defence Agency had mapped all the "critical capabilities" that Europe was missing and that Europe needed to fill these gaps "as soon as possible".

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

I didn’t intend to miss so many of our Scrabble dates, but there was always something that I was needed for.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

In order to beat the record, venues needed to be at least 50km apart in cities populated by more than 15,000 people, with half of the cities needing to have populations of at least 100,000.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

They proved you could destroy a problematic protein by bringing a smooth protein closer to an enzyme that helps dispose of cell waste—without needing to latch on to the protein like traditional drugs do.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Both leaders said they’d never heard of an abuser going to a staffer’s home or of someone in their position needing to institute personal security measures.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Over time, participants learned to maintain their assigned foot position without needing constant reminders.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

“I won’t be needing you till milking time.”

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney


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