require

[ ri-kwahyuhr ]
See synonyms for: requirerequiredrequiresrequiring on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),re·quired, re·quir·ing.
  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.

  1. to ask for authoritatively or imperatively; demand.

  2. to impose need or occasion for; make necessary or indispensable: The work required infinite patience.

  3. to call for or exact as obligatory; ordain: The law requires annual income-tax returns.

  4. to place under an obligation or necessity: The situation requires me to take immediate action.

  5. Chiefly British. to desire; wish to have: Will you require tea at four o'clock?

verb (used without object),re·quired, re·quir·ing.
  1. to demand; impose obligation: to do as the law requires.

Origin of require

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English requiren, from Latin requīrere, equivalent to re- re- + -quīrere, combining form of quaerere “to seek, search for”; cf. quest

synonym study For require

3. See demand.

Other words for require

Opposites for require

Other words from require

  • re·quir·a·ble, adjective
  • re·quir·er, noun
  • non·re·quir·a·ble, adjective
  • pre·re·quire, verb (used with object), pre·re·quired, pre·re·quir·ing.
  • qua·si-re·quired, adjective
  • un·re·quired, adjective

Words Nearby require

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use require in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for require

require

/ (rɪˈkwaɪə) /


verb(mainly tr; may take a clause as object or an infinitive)
  1. to have need of; depend upon; want

  2. to impose as a necessity; make necessary: this work requires precision

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

  2. to call upon or oblige (a person) authoritatively; order or command: to require someone to account for his actions

Origin of require

1
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 For require

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

Derived forms of require

  • requirable, adjective
  • requirer, noun

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