2.1Philosophy (of a concept, statement, judgment, etc.) inevitably resulting from or produced by the nature of things, so that the contrary is impossible.
‘Bacon and Locke had discussed the question of a necessary knowledge of nature from a scholastic standpoint.’
‘If it is shown that the opinion actually formed is not an opinion of this character, then the necessary opinion does not exist.’
‘There could be no solution, they claimed, until the mind first grasped the necessary idea.’
‘We ought not to be surprised when Hamlet refers to some necessary question of the play.’
‘The phenomenon of decadence is as necessary as any increase and advance of life: one is in no position to abolish it.’
2.2Philosophy (of an agent) having no independent volition.
‘The sixth is that if a man were not a necessary agent he would be ignorant of morality and have no motive to practice it.’
noun
usually necessaries
1The basic requirements of life, such as food and warmth.
‘not merely luxuries, but also the common necessaries’
‘poor people complaining for want of the necessaries of life’
‘Shelter, medicine, basic schooling, and even necessaries like food and water were now being provided to the million upon million of starving adults, and their children.’
‘Others resort to exploitation, as in the case of an injured officer who, with the help of a resentful assistant, attempts to trade tobacco leaves with the retreating soldiers in exchange for food and other necessaries.’
‘Work was about to be resumed at the Emergency Kitchen for the relief of the sick poor of York, which was for the immediate relief of all poor persons who were ill, and too poor to afford the pressing necessaries their sufferings required.’
‘Two or three trips out for provisions and necessaries for the immediate works have given us our first close-hand contact with the beautiful landscape.’
‘Lots of worthwhile things got done today, domestic things, keeping the small ship of our household trim and balanced, clean and supplied with the necessaries.’
‘To their credit, Pollack and his scriptwriters have tried to tackle all the necessaries of a proper old style political thriller head on.’
‘And a big plus is that it's not too trendy to supply the necessaries for making coffee and tea.’
‘He could supply drovers with all necessaries, including the best brands of liquors and fresh water.’
‘This was the principal site for retailing victuals and other necessaries.’
‘Bread, margarine, orange juice, jam, fruit and veg, cereals, milk, meat, biscuits and some other necessaries such as kitchen towels, toothpaste, beer and disposable nappies.’
‘But back then florists seemed rather more in touch with the real world and would provide a few bunches of the cheapest blooms you could have for the small change left after shopping for necessaries.’
‘There wasn't time for a full shop so I confined myself to the small list of necessaries I'd scribbled down.’
‘I picked up enough consumables and necessaries to tide us over the next couple of days.’
‘The ward nurse gave me a list of necessaries, beginning with soap and ending with a bedpan.’
‘There was some space left over in my trolley when I'd bought the necessaries so I filled it up with Christmas booze.’
‘I shall have to use a jar of pre-made sauce for that because I'm not geared up with necessaries for sauce making yet.’
‘However, my CD drive is broken, and I specifically checked when I ordered that it would be possible to download the necessaries from the internet.’
‘And if you look to the bottom of the bag, you'll find your necessaries.’
‘After about another hour of going through information, records, and other such necessaries, we finally were ready to leave, or so I thought.’
‘She had spent an hour or so showing the captain the necessaries in caring for his mother, and had promised to stop by the following afternoon, just to check on things.’
‘Taxes on luxuries have some advantage over taxes on necessaries.’
‘At the time of writing his Wealth of Nations, Smith noted that only four necessaries were subject to tax in Great Britain, specifically salt, leather, soap and candles.’
1.1Small items required for a particular journey or purpose.
‘I hastily threw a few necessaries into a kit bag’
‘He wrote, ‘The accepted doctrine is, that capital is anything saved or reserved for the payment of labor not employed in, or devoted to the production of the immediate necessaries of life.’’
‘They are led by an invisible hand to make nearly the same distribution of the necessaries of life which would have been made, had the earth been divided into equal portions among all its inhabitants.’
‘On the other hand, the poor law unions had a legal obligation to ensure that nobody died of starvation, malnutrition, or ‘the want of the necessaries of life.’’
‘The woman and her husband pleaded guilty in January to forcible confinement, assault with a weapon, and failure to provide the necessaries of life.’
‘I was persuaded on the evidence that both parents were equally able and willing to provide the children with the guidance, education, and necessaries of life to meet the needs of the children.’
‘It depends on the ability and willingness of each person applying for custody of the child to provide the child with guidance and education, the necessaries of life and any special needs.’
‘In the Cariboo mining camps ‘train after train was coming in laden not with the necessaries of life, to keep poor men from starvation, but with whiskey, and Billiard Tables’’
‘She took the position that Mark remained a child of the marriage under her charge and unable to withdraw from her charge or obtain the necessaries of life on his own by reason of illness, disability or other cause.’
‘In the short term, the mother, because she is gainfully employed and will likely remain so, is better able to provide Michael with the material necessaries of life.’
‘Thirdly, what is the ability and willingness of each party to provide guidance and education, the necessaries of life and special needs for Christien?’
Phrases
a necessary evil
Something that is undesirable but must be accepted.
‘for many, paying taxes is at best a necessary evil’
‘In fact they enter the course regarding cryptography as a necessary evil that must be endured in order for them to obtain an Information Security qualification.’
‘If this was making inroads into the problem then many Americans would reluctantly accept this as a necessary evil.’
‘But if lights are occasionally necessary, they are a necessary evil.’
‘The department of sericulture, on the other hand, had accepted the problem of children working in silk factories as a necessary evil.’
‘We seem to accept death on the road as a necessary evil.’
‘Many investors say they care less for animal than human lives, taking the view that animal testing is a necessary evil if medical developments are to progress.’
‘But we are prepared to tolerate these noises as being a necessary evil.’
‘So capitalism is indeed a necessary evil, and has been around ever since the beginning of human nature?’
‘Forest fires are a necessary evil, argue scientists and government officials.’
‘I tried hating school, but I decided long ago that education was a necessary evil.’
‘We see some of these salaries as a necessary evil in order to attract good people to run our establishments!’
‘They do not enhance the appearance of the district in which they are situated but are coming to be regarded as a necessary evil.’
‘They are seen as a necessary evil to promote stability and foreign investment in the region.’
‘Despite this, the daily commute is considered by most to be a necessary evil to be tolerated in order to call a place your own.’
‘I can think of 1,000 things I would rather do with my time, but it's a necessary evil.’
‘They seem to see sprawl as a problem to be eliminated, not a necessary evil to be mitigated.’
‘So in that sense, I agree that litigation can be a necessary evil.’
‘State and local officials have come to view tax breaks and ‘incentives’ as a necessary evil.’
‘To others, myself included, cleaning a dirty weapon is a necessary evil.’
‘Animal testing is a necessary evil which will exist for many years to come.’
‘Speed cameras - a necessary evil or just a way of bringing money in?’
Origin
Late Middle English from Latin necessarius, from necesse ‘be needful’.
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