Meaning

2 senses

  1. Anything necessary or requisite.

  2. (slang)Ready money; wherewithal.

Examples

3 sentences

  1. Please do the needful.

    hecko · Tatoeba · CC0 · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. Darwin's health prevented more than two hours' work a day, and the flimsiest of novels was his needful relaxation.

    Cangarejo · Tatoeba · CC0 · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. To tear away from his dream world and, doing the daily needful, to step into reality was for Tom increasingly painful.

    deEs wurde für Tom zu einer immer größeren Qual, aus seiner Phantasiewelt auszubrechen und zur Erledigung der notwendigen täglichen Aufgaben den Schritt in die Wirklichkeit zu tun. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    halfb1t · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Origin

From Middle English needeful, nedeful, from Old English nēodful (“necessary; earnest; zeal

From Middle English needeful, nedeful, from Old English nēodful (“necessary; earnest; zealous”). Equivalent to need + -ful. Cognate with Dutch noodvol, German notvoll.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: needfuls

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
nectarineneedB2needleB1needlessB2

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

needful — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto