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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.

And they merely represent the value of those future liabilities discounted to the present — in other words, the money we’d need to set aside today to meet all those future obligations.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026

To apply for the deferment, homeowners need to fill out the “Misfortune and Calamity relief” form online from the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office website.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026

“You need to have the capacity to scale up to what is needed,” she said.

From Slate • Jun. 9, 2026

Indeed, Russia positively rolled out the red carpet in 2018, removing any need for a visa.

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026

She says, “I’m gonna call Nicole to have her come look after the shop until I get back. You need to get going before school starts.”

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold




Vocabulary lists containing need


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