necessity Hear it!

necessity Definition

ne·ces·sity (-tē)

noun pl. -·ties

  1. the power of natural law that cannot be other than it is; natural causation; physical compulsion placed on man by nature; fate
  2. anything that is inevitable, unavoidable, etc. as a result of natural law; that which is necessary in natural sequence
    1. the compulsion or constraint of man-made circumstances, habit, custom, law, etc.; logical or moral conditions making certain actions inevitable or obligatory faced by the necessity to earn a living
    2. what is required by this social or legal compulsion
  4. great or imperative need
  5. something that cannot be done without; necessary thing: often used in pl.
  6. the state or quality of being necessary
  7. want; poverty

Etymology: ME necessite < OFr nécessité < L necessitas < necesse: see necessary

necessity Idioms

of necessity

necessarily; inevitably

necessity Synonyms

necessity

n.

  1. The state of being required

    need, compulsion, constraint, pressure, obligation, needfulness, essentiality, indispensability, undeniability, requisiteness, prerequisiteness; see also need 3, requirement 2.

  2. That which is needed

    need, want, requisite, vital part, essential, demand, imperative, fundamental, claim, exaction, desideratum, must*; see also lack 2, need 3, requirement 2.

  3. The state of being forced by circumstances

    exigency, pinch, stress, urgency, extremity, destitution, privation, obligation, inexorableness, inescapableness, case of life or death; see also emergency, poverty 1, 2. See syn. study at need.

of necessity

inevitably, importantly, surely; see necessarily.

necessity Law Definition

n

A defense to a criminal charge or civil claim, that the party’s actions were in response to a supervening state of emergency.

necessity Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • obviate: Even possession of a ( normally ) two-handed weapon such as the spear didn't obviate the necessity of acquiring empty-handed skills.
  • underline: This underlines the necessity for clarity about what exactly is to be assessed.
  • emphasize: Councilor Hussey emphasized the necessity to involve the league in any discussions regarding pitch allocations.
  • realize: Successive governments have realized the necessity of our green solutions.
  • dictate: The area of proposed research might also dictate the necessity of a professional qualification or experience in the field.
  • eliminate: The invention may even eliminate the necessity of letter boards and spelling devices.

Converse of subject

compel: The sense of smell, again, is compelled by necessity to refer itself to that same judgment.

Adjective modifier

  • absolute: Week three: The absolute necessity of a total police state; NO freedom of dissent.
  • urgent: And see that reform is not just desirable; it is an urgent necessity.
  • bare: The difficulty they face to meet even the bare necessities of life cannot be overemphasized.
  • dire: I had done that by the impulse of dire necessity, which I ought to have done at first of my own free will.
  • logical: It seems, in general terms, to be a matter of logical necessity.
  • basic: Above all, the prices of basic necessities were kept low.

Noun used with modifier

bear: The toy factory shop is selling the cutest little Balloo you squeeze his paw and he " sings " the bear necessities.

Preposition: of

  • life: They don't have access to the very basic necessity of life.
  • revolution: As workers became aware of this conflict, they would come to recognize, from their own experience, the necessity of socialist revolution.
  • war: It grew, as Lloyd George pointed out, 'not by design, but out of the necessities of the war ' .
  • nature: That prior relation is a necessity of nature, if one may so speak, and not a discretionary arrangement.

Preposition: for

survival: A swarm is a reproduction and a necessity for survival.