needed
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need
(nēd)n.
1. A condition or situation in which something must be supplied in order for a certain condition to be maintained or a desired state to be achieved: crops in need of water; a child's need for affection.
2. Something required or wanted; a requisite: "Those of us who led the charge for these women's issues ... shared a common vision in the needs of women" (Olympia Snowe).
3. Necessity; obligation: There is no need for you to go.
4. A condition of poverty or misfortune: The family is in dire need.
v. need·ed, need·ing, needs
v.aux.
To be under the necessity of or the obligation to: They need not come. You needn't be concerned.
v.tr.
1. To have need of; require: The family needs money. We need to get some more paint.
2. To have an obligation (to do something): You need to clean up your room.
3. To be subject (to an action) by obligation: Bags need to be stowed underneath the seat in front of you.
4. To want to be subject to: We don't need another lecture on the subject.
v.intr.
1. To be in need or want.
2. To be necessary.
[Middle English nede, from Old English nēod, nēd, distress, necessity.]
Usage Note: Depending on the sense, the verb need behaves sometimes like an auxiliary verb (such as can or may) and sometimes like a main verb (such as want or try). When used as a main verb, need agrees with its subject, takes to before the verb following it, and combines with do in questions, negations, and certain other constructions: He needs to go. Does he need to go so soon? He doesn't need to go. When used as an auxiliary verb, need does not agree with its subject, does not take to before the verb following it, and does not combine with do: He needn't go. Need he go so soon? The auxiliary forms of need are used primarily in present-tense questions, negations, and conditional clauses. Unlike can and may, auxiliary need has no form for the past tense like could and might. · When need is used as the main verb, it can be followed by a present participle, as in The car needs washing, or by to be plus a past participle, as in The car needs to be washed. However, in some areas of the United States, especially western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, many speakers omit to be and use just the past participle form, as in The car needs washed. This use of need with past participles is more common in the British Isles, being particularly prevalent in Scotland.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Adj. | 1. | needed - necessary for relief or supply; "provided them with all things needful" necessary - absolutely essential |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
needed
adjective necessary, wanted, required, lacked, lacking, called for, desired The relief programme is designed to get much needed food to drought and war-affected areas of the country.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
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