Usually means: Required for a specific purpose.
Definitions Related words Phrases (New!) Mentions Lyrics History
We found 42 dictionaries that define the word necessary:

General (27 matching dictionaries)
  1. necessary: Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
  2. necessary, the necessary: Merriam-Webster
  3. necessary, necessary: Oxford Learner's Dictionaries
  4. necessary: American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
  5. necessary, the necessary: Collins English Dictionary
  6. necessary: Vocabulary.com
  7. Necessary, necessary: Wordnik
  8. necessary: Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
  9. Necessary, necessary: Wiktionary
  10. necessary: Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4th Ed.
  11. necessary: The Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus
  12. necessary: Infoplease Dictionary
  13. Necessary, necessary: Dictionary.com
  14. necessary: Online Etymology Dictionary
  15. necessary: Cambridge Essential American English Dictionary
  16. Necessary (song), Necessary: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
  17. Necessary: Online Plain Text English Dictionary
  18. necessary: Webster's Revised Unabridged, 1913 Edition
  19. necessary: Rhymezone
  20. necessary: AllWords.com Multi-Lingual Dictionary
  21. necessary: Webster's 1828 Dictionary
  22. necessary: FreeDictionary.org
  23. necessary: Mnemonic Dictionary
  24. necessary: TheFreeDictionary.com
  25. necessary: Wikimedia Commons US English Pronunciations

Business (3 matching dictionaries)
  1. necessary: Law.com Dictionary
  2. Necessary (logic), necessary: Legal dictionary
  3. Necessary (logic), Necessary: Financial dictionary

Computing (1 matching dictionary)
  1. Necessary (logic), Necessary (modal logic), necessary: Encyclopedia

Medicine (2 matching dictionaries)
  1. online medical dictionary (No longer online)
  2. Necessary (logic), necessary: Medical dictionary

Miscellaneous (4 matching dictionaries)
  1. Navajo Code Talkers' Dictionary (No longer online)
  2. NECESSARY: Acronym Finder
  3. necessary: Glosario de términos filosóficos (en inglés)
  4. necessary: Idioms

Science (3 matching dictionaries)
  1. Necessary: Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics
  2. necessary: PlanetMath Encyclopedia
  3. FOLDOP - Free On Line Dictionary Of Philosophy (No longer online)

Slang (2 matching dictionaries)
  1. necessary: Green’s Dictionary of Slang
  2. necessary: Urban Dictionary

(Note: See necessaries as well.)

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Definitions from Wiktionary (
)
American English Definition British English Definition
▸ adjective:  Required, essential, whether logically inescapable or needed in order to achieve a desired result or avoid some penalty.
▸ adjective:  Unavoidable, inevitable.
▸ adjective:  (obsolete) Determined, involuntary: acting from compulsion rather than free will.
▸ noun:  (chiefly UK, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, archaic, euphemistic, usually with the definite article) A place to do the "necessary" business of urination and defecation: an outhouse or lavatory.
▸ noun:  (obsolete) Necessity.
▸ noun:  A surname.

Similar:
needed, required, needful, requisite, essential, requirement, obligatory, necessity, indispensable, inevitable, more...

Opposite:
unnecessary, optional, dispensable, nonessential, extraneous

Types:
essential, crucial, vital, imperative, mandatory, requisite, indispensable, important, needed, more...

Phrases:
the necessary, necessary condition, necessary conditions, necessary evil, medically necessary, more...

Adjectives:
how, more, additional, further, special, good, some, personal, time, exercise, consent


▸ Word origin

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▸ Idioms related to necessary

▸ Wikipedia articles (New!)

▸ Popular adjectives describing necessary

▸ Popular nouns described by necessary

▸ Words that often appear near necessary

▸ Rhymes of necessary

▸ Invented words related to necessary

Similar:
needed, required, needful, requisite, essential, requirement, obligatory, necessity, indispensable, inevitable, more...

Opposite:
unnecessary, optional, dispensable, nonessential, extraneous

Types:
essential, crucial, vital, imperative, mandatory, requisite, indispensable, important, needed, more...

Phrases:
the necessary, necessary condition, necessary conditions, necessary evil, medically necessary, necessary evils, necessary inference, necessary propositions, necessary party, necessary cause, necessary (logic), more...

Adjectives:
how, more, additional, further, special, good, some, personal, time, exercise, consent



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