necessity

noun

1. 1

   The quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite.

   I bought a new table out of necessity. My old one was ruined.

   Educating the public about some of the myths that underlie their fears that non-traditional families will of necessity be detrimental to the well-being of foster children.

   Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul.

2. 2

   The condition of being needy; desperate need; lack.

   For it is in vain for a man to think to seek God in his necessity and exigence, if he seek not God in his ordinances, and do not joy in them.

3. 3

   Something necessary; a requisite; something indispensable.

   A tent is a necessity if you plan on camping.

   Look for the bare necessities / The simple bare necessities / Forget about your worries and your strife

   Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.

4. 4

   Something which makes an act or an event unavoidable; an irresistible force; overruling power.

   After eating a full meal, the human body's necessity for food will compel the person to eat again in the future.

   I stopped, and said with inly muttered voice, 'It doth not love the shower, nor seek the cold: This neither is its courage nor its choice, But its necessity in being old.

5. 5

   The negation of freedom in voluntary action; the subjection of all phenomena, whether material or spiritual, to inevitable causation; necessitarianism.

6. 6

   Greater utilitarian good; used in justification of a criminal act.

   doctrine of necessity

7. 7

   Indispensable requirements (of life).

Forms

plural

necessities