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necessity
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/nəˈsesəti/ 
| singular | necessity |
| plural | necessities |
- 1[uncountable] a process, thing, or action that is needed in a situationnecessity for:
the necessity for a strong diplomatic effort
necessity of (doing) something:doubts about the necessity of the war
necessity to do something:We both recognize the necessity to get this right.
out of necessity (=because it is necessary):Women increasingly went out to work, usually out of economic necessity.
phrases
necessity is the mother of invention
of necessity
formal
This is the British English definition of necessity. View American English definition of necessity.
Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.
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