Need | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Need, n.

noun

n. [O. Eng. nede, A-S. neid, nēd, nyd, O. Fries. ned, O. Sax. nōd, D. nood, Sw. & Dan. nöd, Icel. naudh, neidh, Goth. nauths, O. & M. H. Ger. nôt, N. H. Ger. noth.] 1. A state that requires supply or relief; pressing occasion for something; necessity; urgent want. Be governed by your needs, not by your fancy. Bp. Taylor. 2. Want of the means of subsistence; poverty; indigence. Syn.—Exigency; emergency; strait; extremity; necessity; distress; destitution; poverty; indigence; penury.—NEED, NECESSITY. Necessity is stronger than need; it places us under positive compulsion. We are frequently under the necessity of going without that of which we stand very greatly in need. It is so also with the corresponding adjectives; necessitous circumstances imply the direct pressure of suffering; needy circumstances, the want of aid or relief. In thy native innocence proceed, And summon all thy reason at thy need. Dryden. The art of our necessities is strange, That can make vile things precious. Shak.

Need, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. NEEDED; p. pr. & vb. n. NEEDING.] [See supra. Cf. A-S. nēdan, neādian, Goth. nanthjan, to compel, force.] To be in want of; to lack; to require, as supply or relief.

*Other creatures all day long Rove idle, unemployed, and less need rest. Milton.*

☞ With another verb, need is used like an auxiliary, generally in a negative sentence expressing requirement or obligation, and in this use it undergoes no change of termination in the third person singular of the present tense. “And the lender need not fear he shall be injured.” Anacharsis, Trans.

Need, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. To be wanted; to be necessary.

When we have done it, we have done all that is in our power, and all that needs. Locke.