# need

Pronunciation: say "NEED" US /nid/, UK /niːd/

## Verb

1. To have to do something, or (of a thing or action) to be necessary.
   - Simple: To have to do something, or to be something that must happen.
   - _Visitors need to sign in at the front desk._
   - _She needs to renew her passport before the trip._
2. To have an absolute requirement for something; to be unable to do without it.
   - Simple: To have to have something because you cannot manage without it.
   - _Newborns need constant care during their first weeks._
   - _The recipe needs a full cup of flour._
5. To want something strongly; to feel that one must have it.
   - Simple: To want something very much and feel you must have it.
   - _He needs her approval more than he will admit._
   - _I need this victory more than anything right now._

## Noun

3. A requirement for something; something that is necessary.
   - Simple: Something you must have, or the fact that you must have it.
   - _The community has a growing need for affordable housing._
   - _He finally recognized the need to act quickly._
4. A strong urge to have or do something, whether from desire or a feeling of necessity.
   - Simple: A strong feeling that you want or must have or do something.
   - _She felt a sudden need to call her mother and hear her voice._
   - _His constant need for approval made it hard for him to say no._
6. The condition of lacking the means to live; poverty or destitution.
   - Simple: The state of being very poor and without what you must have to live.
   - _Decades of war plunged the region into widespread need._
   - _Their need was visible in the bare shelves and worn clothing._

## Origin

**Meanings 3–4, 6** — From Middle English need, a merger of two Old English terms: nīed ('necessity, compulsion, want'), from Proto-Germanic *naudiz and ultimately Proto-Indo-European *neh₂w- ('death'); and nēod ('desire, longing'), from Proto-West Germanic *niudi ('desire, eagerness').
**Meanings 1–2, 5** — From Middle English neden, from Old English nēodian.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/need (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).