demand
Americanverb (used with object)
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demands,
present (3rd person singular)
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demanded,
past participle, past
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demanding
present participle
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to ask for with proper authority; claim as a right.
He demanded payment of the debt.
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to ask for peremptorily or urgently.
He demanded sanctuary. She demanded that we let her in.
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to call for or require as just, proper, or necessary.
This task demands patience. Justice demands objectivity.
- Synonyms:
- exact
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Law.
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to lay formal legal claim to.
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to summon, as to court.
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verb (used without object)
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demands,
present (3rd person singular)
-
demanded,
past participle, past
-
demanding
present participle
noun
-
demands
plural
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the act of demanding.
-
something that is demanded.
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an urgent or pressing requirement.
demands upon one's time.
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Economics.
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the desire to purchase, coupled with the power to do so.
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the quantity of goods that buyers will take at a particular price.
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a requisition; a legal claim.
The demands of the client could not be met.
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the state of being wanted or sought for purchase or use.
an article in great demand.
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Archaic. inquiry; question.
idioms
verb
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to request peremptorily or urgently
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to require or need as just, urgent, etc
the situation demands attention
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to claim as a right; exact
his parents demanded obedience of him
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law to make a formal legal claim to (property, esp realty)
noun
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an urgent or peremptory requirement or request
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something that requires special effort or sacrifice
a demand on one's time
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the act of demanding something or the thing demanded
the kidnappers' demand was a million pounds
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an insistent question or query
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economics
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willingness and ability to purchase goods and services
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the amount of a commodity that consumers are willing and able to purchase at a specified price Compare supply 1
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-
law a formal legal claim, esp to real property
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sought after; popular
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as soon as requested
a draft payable on demand
Synonym Usage
Demand, claim, require imply making an authoritative request. To demand is to ask in a bold, authoritative way: to demand an explanation. To claim is to assert a right to something: He claimed it as his due. To require is to ask for something as being necessary; to compel: The Army requires absolute obedience of its soldiers.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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counterdemandnoun
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demandernoun
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superdemandnoun
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overdemandverb
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predemandverb (used with object)
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demandableadjective
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undemandedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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demandsimple
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demandssimple
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have demandedperfect
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has demandedperfect
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am demandingprogressive
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are demandingprogressive
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is demandingprogressive
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have been demandingperfect progressive
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has been demandingperfect progressive
Past
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demandedsimple
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had demandedperfect
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was demandingprogressive
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were demandingprogressive
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had been demandingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of demand
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English demaunden, from Anglo-French demaunder, from Medieval Latin dēmandāre “to demand,” Latin “to entrust,” equivalent to dē- negative prefix + mandāre “to commission, order”; see de-, mandate
Explanation
Demand means "an urgent request," like your demand that teachers give no homework on the weekend, or the act of making the request — teachers who demand that the work get done, even if it's the weekend. Demand comes from the Old French word demander, meaning "ask, make inquiry." A demand is a lot stronger than that, however. When you demand something, you want action now. A demand can also mean "to require" like cold weather that demands warm coats and boots. Demand is also an economic term, meaning "the amount of an item that can be sold," like the demand for those snow boots: high in winter and nonexistent in summer.
Vocabulary lists containing demand
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Short-term increases in demand for coal as a result of an international supply shock should not be seen as a reversal of this direction," he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
The video from Alhambra that Fields said she was told prompted Trump to demand investigations, and which Padilla shared, was posted to TikTok by the League of United Latin American Citizens on Feb. 26, 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Tuchel, however, appeared to set those reservations to one side when he recalled him for these four Nations League games - and Alexander-Arnold responded with performances that simply demand his continued inclusion.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
But what if AI didn’t need more—more chips, more energy, more resources—to meet the intensifying demand for computing power?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
I demand, an uncomfortable quaver in my voice.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
It remains early days but is Jeglertz showing he can juggle competing demands well?
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Its platform models customers’ artificial intelligence use cases and then directs those demands toward the hardware best suited for their level of complexity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
In France, no link has yet been established between the student movement and any religious or identity-based demands.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
Amid the competing demands of school, daily life and parenting, even something as simple as walking together may create valuable time for conversation and connection.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
Anyone who came of age in the Soviet Union during the 1930s was not going to let class awareness affect her commitment to the urgent demands of war.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Spotlighting Sony Pictures Studios, Apple, Pinterest and Amazon MGM Studios, all with local offices, protesters demanded that the companies sign on to the “Business for Democracy Pledge” ahead of the elections in November.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
South Korea's military demanded an official apology this week, calling the incident "a clear violation of the Armistice Agreement".
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
He’s the most talentless man ever caught in the bright glare of the light he demanded from the world.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
South Korea's military has demanded an apology from North Korea for landmine blasts along their shared border that wounded South Korean soldiers earlier this month.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
“Secretary-archivist,” demanded one of the interrogators, “or spy?”
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Gov. Kathy Hochul is demanding that legislators make changes to a law critics say protects abusers if a victim knowingly drank.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Gen. Todd Blanche on Monday demanding answers to a slate of questions about Justice Department investigations of protesters, their origins and outcomes, and any involvement from the White House.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
It is people that are demanding change in general.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026
In some cases, their landlords were demanding 30% more.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Maria’s husband, Johann Graff, appeared, demanding his wife back.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
