need

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.1.1 Homophones 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Noun 1.2.1.1 Usage notes 1.2.1.2 Derived terms 1.2.1.3 Translations 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Verb 1.3.1.1 Usage notes 1.3.1.2 Translations 1.4 External links 2 West Frisian 2.1 Noun

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /niːd/, SAMPA: /ni:d/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -iːd

[edit] Homophones

• knead
• kneed

[edit] Etymology 1

Old English nēd

[edit] Noun

need (plural needs)

1. Something required.

   I've always tried to have few needs beyond food, clothing and shelter.

[edit] Usage notes

• Adjectives often used with "need": physiological, psychological, emotional, psychosocial, human, special, basic, etc.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

[edit] Etymology 2

Old English nēodian

[edit] Verb

to need (third-person singular simple present needs, present participle needing, simple past and past participle needed)

1. (transitive): To have an absolute requirement for.

   Living things need water to survive.

2. (transitive): To want strongly; to feel that one must have something.

   After ten days of hiking, I needed a shower and a shave.

3. (modal verb) To be obliged or required to.

   You need not go if you don't want to.

[edit] Usage notes

• The verb need is construed in a few different ways:
  • With a direct object, as in "I need your help."
  • With a to-infinitive, as in "I need to go." In this use, need is a subject-control verb, except when the infinitive's subject is explicitly provided by a for phrase, as in "I need for this to happen."
  • With a direct object and a to-infinitive, as in "I need this to happen." This construction is synonymous with the previous construction, with for; that is, the direct object is semantically the subject of the infinitive. Hence, need is an object-raising verb.
  • As a modal verb, with a bare infinitive; only in the negative, as in "It need not happen today." Need in this use does not have inflected forms.
  • Rarely, with a past participle, as in "Something needs done",^[1] which is synonymous with "Something needs to be done." Note that many speakers do not find this construction to be acceptable.
  • Colloquially, in the construction "I need me <direct object>", which is a more emphatic version of "I need <direct object>."

[edit] Translations

[edit] External links

• need in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• need in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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[edit] West Frisian

[edit] Noun

need c.

1. need

Derived terms

1. needsaaklik (adj) necessary