needs

American  

[needz] / nidz /

adverb

1. of necessity; necessarily (usually preceded or followed bymust ).

   It must needs be so.

   It needs must be.

---

needs British  

/ niːdz /

adverb

1. (preceded or foll by must) of necessity

   we must needs go

   we will go, if needs must

---

plural noun

1. what is required; necessities

   the needs of the third world

   his needs are modest

Etymology

Origin of needs

First recorded before 1000; Middle English nedis, Old English nēdes, originally genitive of nēd need; see -s ¹

Example Sentences

Men’s social disconnection is the subject of Andrew McCarthy’s “Who Needs Friends,” which shines in its more unvarnished portraits of the author’s own friends.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Another Harrogate-based charity, Lifeline, which helps to provide housing to homeless and vulnerable people, has been working with Essential Needs to furnish accommodation.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

The cheeky Midwestern T-shirt purveyor Raygun has an “Iowa Needs Insufferable Wenches” shirt that raises money for their efforts.

From Salon • Mar. 28, 2026

But McCarthy’s closest confidants are men who’ve never set foot on a film set, men never trailed by paparazzi, and it’s those relationships to which he tends in “Who Needs Friends.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026

Needs the toilet, worries he cannot hold it, doesn't want to think about the trouble that will cause.

From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti