need

CEFRA1

/niːd/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To require something because it is necessary.

  2. 02

    noun

    Something required or wanted.

Examples

  • I need to ask you a silly question.

  • It's too bad that I don't need to lose weight.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [nɪi̯d]
  • /nid/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. A desire or craving for the satisfaction of a requirement perceived as essential or primal.

  2. Lack of means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution.

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A requirement for something; something needed.

More examples

In context

  • She refuses to acknowledge the need for reform.

  • She grew irritated with his constant need for attention.

  • There's no need to speculate; we can easily find out for sure.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The starving children in the drought blank food and clean water to survive.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English need, nede, a merger of two terms: * Old English nīed (West Saxon), nēd (Mercian), nēad (“necessity, compulsion, want”), from Proto-West Germanic *naudi, from Proto-Germanic *naudiz, from Proto-Indo-European *neh₂w- (“death”). * Old English nēod (“desire, longing”), from Proto-West Germanic *niudi (“desire, eagerness”), from Proto-Indo-European *new- (“to incline, tend, move, push, nod, wave”).