require
[ri-kwahyuhr]
- to have need of; need: He requires medical care.
- to call on authoritatively; order or enjoin to do something: to require an agent to account for money spent.
- to ask for authoritatively or imperatively; demand.
- to impose need or occasion for; make necessary or indispensable: The work required infinite patience.
- to call for or exact as obligatory; ordain: The law requires annual income-tax returns.
- to place under an obligation or necessity: The situation requires me to take immediate action.
- Chiefly British. to desire; wish to have: Will you require tea at four o'clock?
Show More
- to demand; impose obligation: to do as the law requires.
Show More
Origin of require
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
Antonyms
3. forgo.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
lackobligecompelrequestinvolveinstructobligatetakedemandcauseorderexpectdesirewishcravemissclaimbeseechentailbidExamples from the Web for require
Contemporary Examples
That makes New York the ninth state to require such coverage.
The Insurance Company Promised a Gender Reassignment. Then They Made a Mistake.James Joiner
December 29, 2014
Bohac said the bill does not require anyone to say “Merry Christmas” if they are not up for it.
Another step is to require a lawyer or advocate present during questioning of people with ID.
You might think that the reason Medicaid does not require coverage of HCBS is because institutional care is cheaper.
Medicaid Will Give You Money for At-Home Care, but You Might Wait YearsElizabeth Picciuto
December 2, 2014
As of July 2014, only 22 states and the District of Columbia require sex education to be taught in public schools.
Historical Examples
This may make a good depot if we require to stay long in this neighbourhood.
Explorations in AustraliaJohn Forrest
But while we do justice to others, we must require that justice be done to us.
They may walk, to be sure, but it is exactly the inducement to walk that they require.
Sunday under Three HeadsCharles Dickens
To be so particular as you require in subjects of conversation, it is impossible to be short.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
It will require sacrifice, but it can be done, and done fairly.
require
- to have need of; depend upon; want
- to impose as a necessity; make necessarythis work requires precision
- (also intr) to make formal request (for); insist upon or demand, esp as an obligation
- to call upon or oblige (a person) authoritatively; order or commandto require someone to account for his actions
Show More
Word Origin
C14: from Old French requerre, from Vulgar Latin requaerere (unattested) to seek after, from Latin requīrere to seek to know, but also influenced by quaerere to seek
usage
The use of require to as in I require to see the manager or you require to complete a special form is thought by many people to be incorrect: I need to see the manager; you are required to complete a special form
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for require
v.
late 14c., "to ask a question, inquire," from Old French requerre "seek, procure; beg, ask, petition; demand," from Vulgar Latin *requaerere, from Latin requirere "seek to know, ask," from re-, here perhaps meaning "repeatedly" (see re-), + quaerere "ask, seek" (see query (v.)).
The original sense of this word has been taken over by request (v.). Sense of "demand (someone) to do (something)" is from 1751, via the notion of "to ask for imperatively, or as a right" (late 14c.). Related: Required; requiring.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper