REQUIRE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does require mean? 

• REQUIRE (verb)
  The verb REQUIRE has 4 senses:

1. require as useful, just, or proper

2. consider obligatory; request and expect

3. make someone do something

4. have need of

  Familiarity information: REQUIRE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REQUIRE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they require    ... he / she / it requires   
Past simple: required   
Past participle: required   
-ing form: requiring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Require as useful, just, or proper

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

ask; call for; demand; involve; necessitate; need; postulate; require; take

Context example:

This intervention does not postulate a patient's consent

Verb group:

claim; exact; take (take as an undesirable consequence of some event or state of affairs)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "require"):

claim; exact; take (take as an undesirable consequence of some event or state of affairs)

govern (require to be in a certain grammatical case, voice, or mood)

draw (require a specified depth for floating)

cost (require to lose, suffer, or sacrifice)

cry for; cry out for (need badly or desperately)

compel (necessitate or exact)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
It ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

requirement (required activity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Consider obligatory; request and expect

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

ask; expect; require

Context example:

I expect my students to arrive in time for their lessons

Hypernyms (to "require" is one way to...):

demand (request urgently and forcefully)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "require"):

call (require the presentation of for redemption before maturation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something from somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They require him to write the letter

Derivation:

requirement (required activity)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make someone do something

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

command; require

Hypernyms (to "require" is one way to...):

enjoin; order; say; tell (give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "require"):

burden; charge; saddle (impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to)

requisition (make a formal request for official services)

disallow; forbid; interdict; nix; prohibit; proscribe; veto (command against)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They require him to write the letter

Derivation:

requisition (the act of requiring; an authoritative request or demand, especially by a military or public authority that takes something over (usually temporarily) for military or public use)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Have need of

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

need; require; want

Context example:

This piano wants the attention of a competent tuner

Hypernyms (to "require" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "require"):

cry (demand immediate action)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence examples:

They require more bread
They require him to write the letter

Derivation:

requirement (anything indispensable)

 Context examples 

Terms moderate, and could be taken for a month only, if required.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It would have required an experienced man to keep the top-heavy sled upright, and Hal was not such a man.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The intent of the snarl is to warn or frighten, and judgment is required to know when it should be used.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He will require some few weeks' rest in our sanatorium in the hills, but will then return.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Martin did not require a second thought to discover the author.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Uranus is in your fourth house of home, so the job might require you to move quite suddenly.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I understand that it was your daughter who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Ask him something that requires no for an answer,” I suggested.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

PROFESSOR CHALLENGER: 'You would require to see the thing itself?'

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She requires constant air and exercise.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)