Other forms: needed, needs, needing
To need something is to be unable to manage without it. Plants need water, a car needs fuel, you need eight hours' sleep and never get them.
Need to is how English says you have no choice: I need to leave by six, you need to see a doctor about that. As a noun it is the lack itself — a need for more nurses, families in need, the basic needs of food, warmth and shelter. In negatives and questions it can behave like a modal, with no -s and no to: you needn't come, need I say more? Needy covers two different things, a person who wants too much attention and a family with no money, so it is worth knowing which one you mean. And no need is the polite refusal you hear all day long: no need to apologise.
1verbneedTo be unable to live, work or continue without something.~33%
“Everyone needs about two litres of water a day.”
synonyms: require
2verbverbTo have to do something.~16%
“You need to sign the form before Friday.”
3nounsituationA situation in which something is necessary or missing.~33%
“There is a real need for more school places in the area.”
4nounorderThe things a person must have in order to live or be well.~16%
“The centre looks after the daily needs of older residents.”
5nounstateThe state of not having enough money or help.~2%
“The fund exists to help families in need.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 6 sentences found in the wild and placed 6 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
Middle English
need
English, today
need
From Middle English need, nede, a merger of two terms:
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA