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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.

He said his company would need an "extra 25-30% on they money they are paid to get his lorries back on the road".

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

"I'm a supporter of these great people," he said waving towards other protesters, adding that if the court process was definitive "there would be no need for all this".

From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026

And there are the storage wars that rage within ourselves, between our practical and our sentimental sides, over the cost of storing things that deep down we know we will never need.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

Not since snowmaking was invented in the 1950s has there been an innovation that could affect how ski resorts get the powder they need to thrive.

From Slate • Apr. 11, 2026

We’ll need Zara’s help if we’re going to pull it off.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam




Vocabulary lists containing need