needs must

A form of must needs — A pleonastic intensification of must using the adverb needs, meaning “must necessarily”.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbneeds must (third-person singular simple present needs must, no present participle, simple past needs must, no past participle)
  1. alternativeno past participleno present participleAlternative form of must needs.
    1 more example

    Then I walked about, till I found on the further side, a great river of sweet water, running with a strong current; whereupon I called to mind the boat-raft I had made aforetime and said to myself, "Needs must I make another; haply I may free me from this strait. If I escape, I have my desire and I vow to Allah Almighty to forswear travel; and if I perish I shall be at peace and shall rest from toil and moil."

    1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 564
proverb
  1. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of needs must when the devil drives.

    "Needs must and all that – and the devil so often does, doesn't he?" “Excuse me?" "Drives – the devil. Such a relentless old bugger."

    1999, Jill Laurimore, Going to Pot, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 155
    1 more example

    “Needs must,” and the haughty summons of Britain rings even in the impregnable heart of Thibet. This is the mission of Empire, the will of a dominant people bent on advancing the interests of trade.

    1905, The Chronicle of the London Missionary Society, page 199

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
needs-costneeds must when the devil drives
Cite this entry
APA

needs must. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/needs%20must

MLA

“needs must.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/needs%20must. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “needs must,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/needs%20must.

Source: needs must on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.