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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:

States and local governments need not offer public funds to private groups and entities, the justices said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026

Only items officially defined as treasure need to be reported and there is a fine or up to three months in prison for not reporting.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

“There are important issues on which we need to make progress,” Carney said, without elaborating.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

“As long as people don’t really want to check the sources and look more in-depth into it, they don’t need to go to that backing source,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

I need to be straight up, or I’ll have collected a forest’s worth of flyers by the end of the school year.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

She said: "Everybody needs to manage the countryside together, and we'll do the work and set out the policies and strategies in order to do so."

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

An individual’s medical needs can change from one year to the next and even over the course of a given year, so it’s important to compare plans carefully.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

Through its mining facilities, the company can earn crypto revenue from a site’s power while building a data center nearby that fits customer needs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

"It needs to change for the everyday person and I'm an everyday person."

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

“This schoolroom needs a thorough cleaning before our…company comes. Just look at those windows. And that kindling needs to be in a neat stack. And, Pearl, you’ll sweep the floor.”

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

It said it had also set aside more than 100% of the funds needed to cover the loss, noting 98% of the token assets impacted had been "replenished" as of Saturday.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

“In places like Texas, I’ll be watching what the election means for data-center development, power generation and the infrastructure needed to support AI,” he wrote.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

Gaston Browne, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, said Tuesday that there needed to be “meaningful and truthful conversations” about reparations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

He said El-Sayed really needed to worry about the Democrats who felt the same way as Stevens but declined to talk about it in public.

From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2026

She prides herself on having any and everything that might be needed throughout the day.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

The exhaustive nature of his character played a part in former president of football operations Monchi leaving last year, with Emery's close confidante needing a break.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

It allows Perseverance to cover greater distances without needing people on Earth to repeatedly determine its location, potentially making future exploration faster and more efficient.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026

And while it’s good to replace that metaphorical candy with something healthier, we cannot flog ourselves into not needing something sweet to survive the bitter world we live in.

From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2026

The unfortunately timed tip-off resulted from moving the matchup to a larger arena while needing to wrap up in time for a Hawks home game that evening.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

Or sometimes just the FedEx man needing a signature for a package.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi


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