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Which set of activities does a triathlon require competitors to complete?

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require

American  

[ri-kwahyuhr] / rɪˈkwaɪər /

verb (used with object)

• requires,
  present (3rd person singular)
• required,
  past participle,  past
• requiring
  present participle

1. to have need of; need.

   He requires medical care.

2. to call on authoritatively; order or enjoin to do something.

   to require an agent to account for money spent.

3. to ask for authoritatively or imperatively; demand.

   Antonyms:

   forgo

4. to impose need or occasion for; make necessary or indispensable.

   The work required infinite patience.

5. to call for or exact as obligatory; ordain.

   The law requires annual income-tax returns.

6. to place under an obligation or necessity.

   The situation requires me to take immediate action.

   Synonyms:

   necessitate, obligate

7. Chiefly British. to desire; wish to have.

   Will you require tea at four o'clock?

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verb (used without object)

• requires,
  present (3rd person singular)
• required,
  past participle,  past
• requiring
  present participle

1. to demand; impose obligation.

   to do as the law requires.

require British  

/ rɪˈkwaɪə /

verb

1. to have need of; depend upon; want

2. to impose as a necessity; make necessary

   this work requires precision

3. (also intr) to make formal request (for); insist upon or demand, esp as an obligation

4. to call upon or oblige (a person) authoritatively; order or command

   to require someone to account for his actions

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Usage

What are other ways to say require? To require something is to have a need for it or to ask for it authoritatively. How does require compare to synonyms want, need, and lack? Find out on Thesaurus.com. 

Synonym Usage

See demand.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• requirer
  noun
• prerequire
  verb (used with object)
• nonrequirable
  adjective
• quasi-required
  adjective
• requirable
  adjective
• unrequired
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• requiring
  present
• required
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• require
  simple
• requires
  simple
• have required
  perfect
• has required
  perfect
• am requiring
  progressive
• are requiring
  progressive
• is requiring
  progressive
• have been requiring
  perfect progressive
• has been requiring
  perfect progressive

Past

• required
  simple
• had required
  perfect
• was requiring
  progressive
• were requiring
  progressive
• had been requiring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will require
  simple
• will have required
  perfect
• will be requiring
  progressive
• will have been requiring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of require

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English requiren, from Latin requīrere, equivalent to re- re- ( def. ) + -quīrere, combining form of quaerere “to seek, search for”; cf. quest ( def. )

Explanation

Require means to need. You require food, water, and shelter to live, but do you really require that new pair of high-fashion shoes? The verb require comes from Latin root words re-, meaning "repeatedly," and quaerere, meaning "to ask." The word lost the sense of asking and came to mean needing, demanding, or insisting upon something. The law requires that you attend school until you're sixteen; your parents probably require you to finish high school. If you're a waiter in a fancy restaurant and the food has been served, you might ask if your customers require anything else.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

require requires required requiring

And Brian Mulberry, chief market strategist at Zacks Investment Management, told MarketWatch that absorbing Chipotle would likely require hefty financing at a time when bond yields have risen sharply.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

And coinsurance rules routinely require people to shell out even after they have hit their several-thousand-dollar deductibles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

One source said the issue of City's licence "had been raised" and that a solution "would require the sort of joined up thinking that's been a bit lacking so far".

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

PDWs are extremely delicate and require highly regular crystals to form.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

"I’m sorry, ma'am. We require full payment, or we cannot treat your dog."

From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty

It also makes the upcoming launch of Starlink Mobile, slated for 2027, more cost-effective, as low-bandwidth spectrum requires fewer cell towers than higher-frequency bands.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

It also requires appellate review, where a higher court inspects the decision, and a final judgment on its legality to move forward.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

The Department of Transportation requires airlines to compensate passengers who are bumped due to oversold flights.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

It often requires tremendous mental and emotional fortitude at a time when they are simply trying to get well.

From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026

Recognizing both science’s limitations and its strengths requires a peculiar mixture of scepticism and confidence; relativists overdo the scepticism and realists overdo the confidence.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Behind the raccoons and all the lighthearted virality, though, Haaland maintains the singular focus required of a world-class athlete.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

He accused them of having "breached their duties, performed actions contrary to the art of healing" and having "omitted all the acts they were required to perform."

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Once they get wind of your required minimum distributions in your early 70s, they will come knocking again.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

Her lawyer also requested that the Tennessee Department of Corrections be required to notify his team 48 hours before she is transferred from the hospital to any state hospital or other government-run facility.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

With Handsome, if he didn’t simply say no right off, then there were bound to be many preparations required.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

It also taps into nostalgia for the toy cars, which originated after English engineer Jack Odell designed the first model to comply with a 1952 British school rule requiring toys to fit inside a matchbox.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Instead of requiring patients to wait while their cells are collected, modified, expanded, and returned, the necessary genetic engineering could potentially happen inside the patient.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

The refunds include interest, which is taxable, requiring FedEx to collect information like Social Security numbers or employer identification numbers for tax forms, the company says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

The Scottish government said they should be seen as a "positive thing" which would make it easier for farmers to get uninfected animals to market without requiring an individual licence.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

According to a study conducted by the DePaul University College of Law in 2000, of the then-ninety-eight occupations requiring licenses in Illinois, fifty-seven placed stipulations and/or restrictions on applicants with a criminal record.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• call for
• cause
• compel
• demand
• expect
• instruct
• involve
• obligate
• oblige
• order
• request
• take