have to

Idioms  

1. Also, have got to. Be obliged to, must. For example, We have to go now, or He has got to finish the paper today. The use of have as an auxiliary verb to indicate obligation goes back to the 16th century; the variant using got dates from the mid-1800s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

have to

But, it's already getting busy, so she may just have to rely on those with cash.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

But there is a major catch: To comply with Internal Revenue Service rules, investors have to give up control of the assets inside the policy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

“You don’t have to play it. You don’t have to watch it.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

Like all generational debates, to define what makes “millennial art,” we have to start with what it is not.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

He isn’t supposed to be in Manila in the first place, and who knows how much longer he’ll have to be there?

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly