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need - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'need' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Need [ adv.]
- Of necessity. See Needs.
2 . Need [ n.]
- A state that requires supply or relief; pressing occasion for something; necessity; urgent want.
- Want of the means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution.
- That which is needful; anything necessary to be done; (pl.) necessary things; business.
- Situation of need; peril; danger.
- To be in want of; to have cause or occasion for; to lack; to require, as supply or relief.
3 . Need [ v. i.]
- To be wanted; to be necessary.

Meaning of 'need' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . need [ n]
Meaning (1):
- a state of extreme poverty or destitution
Example in sentence:
  • a general state of need exists among the homeless;
  • their indigence appalled him
Meaning (2):
- a condition requiring relief
Example in sentence:
  • God has no need of men to accomplish His work;
  • she satisfied his need for affection;
  • there is a demand for jobs
Meaning (3):
- the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
Example in sentence:
  • he acted with the best of motives;
  • we did not understand his motivation
Meaning (4):
- anything that is necessary but lacking
Example in sentence:
  • he had sufficient means to meet his simple needs;
  • I tried to supply his wants
5 . need [ v]
Meaning (5):
- have or feel a need for
Example in sentence:
  • always needing friends and money
Meaning (6):
- require as useful, just, or proper
Example in sentence:
  • It takes nerve to do what she did;
  • success usually requires hard work;
  • This dinner calls for a spectacular dessert;
  • This intervention does not postulate a patient's consent;
  • This job asks a lot of patience and skill;
  • This position demands a lot of personal sacrifice
Meaning (7):
- have need of
Example in sentence:
  • This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner

Nearby Words:

nee needed needer needful needily neediness needing needle needle-pointed needlebook

See 'need' also in:

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Related Definitions

  • Social Need
    Social Needs are the basic needs of humans that prove that they are social beings. The need for love, companionship, friendship and belonging are among the major social needs.
  • Self-actualization need
    The need to use and display one’s full range of skills and competence; the fifth and highest level of needs in Maslow’s needs hierarchy.
  • Safety need
    Security need, such as the need to be financially secure and protected against job los, the second level of needs in Maslow’s needs
  • Needs hierarchy
    Needs hierarchy refers psychologist Abraham Maslow’s motivational theory that people have five basic needs arranged in a hierarchy:
  • Esteem need
    Esteem need refers the need for self-respect and for respect from others; the fourth level of needs in Maslow’s needs hierarchy.
  • Needs approach
    Needs approach is a method for estimating amount of life insurance appropriate for a family by analyzing various family needs that must be met if the family head should die and converting them into specific
  • Safety and security need
    Safety and security need us the need to avoid bodily harm and uncertainty about one’s well-being.
  • Self-actualization or self-realization need
    Self-actualization or self-realization need is the need to get the maximum reward from one’s life experience: to maximize one’s skills, abilities, and potential.
  • Physiological need
    Physiological need is the fundamental need for food, clothing, and shelter.
  • Public need
    Public need is one of the criteria used by governmental agencies to determine whether a new bank or branch should be approved for a

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