Syn. -- Exigency; emergency; strait; extremity; necessity; distress;
destitution; poverty; indigence; want; 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 also with the
corresponding adjectives; necessitous circumstances imply the direct
pressure of suffering; needy circumstances, the want of aid or relief.
Need (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Needed; p. pr. & vb. n. Needing.] [See
Need, n. Cf. AS. n&?;dan to force, Goth. nau&?;jan.] To be in want of;
to have cause or occasion for; 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. To be wanted; to be necessary. Chaucer.
When we have done it, we have done all that is in our power, and
all that needs.
Locke.
Need, adv. Of necessity. See Needs. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Need"er (?), n. One who needs anything. Shak.
Need"ful (?), a. 1. Full of need; in need or want; needy; distressing.
[Archaic] Chaucer.
The needful time of trouble.
Bk. of Com. Prayer.