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Require Common

Require has 5 different meanings across 1 category:

Verb

Definitions
Verb
1

require as useful, just, or proper

"It takes nerve to do what she did"

"success usually requires hard work"

"This job asks a lot of patience and skill"

"This position demands a lot of personal sacrifice"

"This dinner calls for a spectacular dessert"

"This intervention does not postulate a patient's consent"

2

consider obligatory; request and expect

"We require our secretary to be on time"

"Aren't we asking too much of these children?"

"I expect my students to arrive in time for their lessons"

3

make someone do something

"The new safety regulations require all drivers to wear seatbelts while on the highway."

4

have need of

"This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner"

5

To ask (someone) for something; to request.

"She did not require a formal invitation, so she simply knocked on his door when he was home."

In plain English: To require means to need something in order to get by or succeed.

"The job requires you to be available during the evenings."

Usage: Use require when stating that someone must provide or do something, often implying an official obligation rather than a simple preference. It is stronger and more formal than synonyms like ask, which suggests only a polite inquiry without guaranteed compliance.

Example Sentences
"The job requires you to be available during the evenings." verb
"The job requires you to arrive at least thirty minutes early each day." verb
"This recipe will require two cups of flour and one egg." verb
"Our school system requires all students to complete an annual health checkup." verb
Related Terms
Antonyms
rid of
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
demand order be
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)
claim govern draw cost cry out for compel call charge requisition forbid cry

Origin

The word came into English from the Old French requerre, which was borrowed from the Latin requirere. While it originally meant to "seek" or "ask for," its meaning in modern English has shifted specifically to mean a demand or necessity.

Rhyming Words
ire aire sire lire dire gire cire pire mire tire vire eire wire hire fire geire noire swire twire adire
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