- Home
- Idioms
- necessity
necessity
bare necessities
That which is absolutely essential, with nothing superfluous, extravagant, or unnecessary. All I'm looking for in a mobile phone is the bare necessities: the ability to make phone calls. They weren't kidding when they said the apartment only had the bare necessities: just a bed, a bathroom, and a stove!
necessity is the mother of innovation
The need for something tends to spark creative thinking and action. A less common variant of the phrase "necessity is the mother of invention." A: "I think she'll come up with a solution if we stop stepping in to help her." B: "That's a good point—necessity is the mother of innovation, after all."
make a virtue of necessity
Prov. to do what you have to do cheerfully or willingly. When Bill's mother became sick, there was no one but Bill to take care of her, so Bill made a virtue of necessity and resolved to enjoy their time together.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Prov. When people really need to do something, they will figure out a way to do it. When the fan belt on Linda's car broke in the middle of the desert, Linda used her stockings as a replacement. Necessity is the mother of invention.
Necessity knows no law.
Prov. If you are desperate, you may have to do illegal things. I'm an honest person by nature, but I lost my job, and my kids needed food and clothes, and it seemed like the best way to get money was to deal in illegal drugs. Necessity knows no law.
out of necessity
because of necessity; due to need. I bought this hat out of necessity. I needed one, and this was all there was. We sold our car out of necessity.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
something that you say which means that if you want to do something very much you will think of a way to do it We can't afford expensive paper to paint on so we use old envelopes and newspaper. They do say necessity is the mother of invention.
make a virtue of necessity
(formal) to change something you must do into a positive or useful experience It's a long way to drive so I thought I'd make a virtue of necessity and stop off at some interesting places along the way.
bare necessities
Just sufficient resources, with nothing to spare. For example, The room was furnished with just the bare necessities-bed, table, chair. This idiom uses bare in the sense of "mere, and nothing else," a usage dating from about 1200.
make a virtue of necessity
Do the best one can under given circumstances, as in
Since he can't break the contract, Bill's making a virtue of necessity. This expression first appeared in English in Chaucer's
The Knight's Tale: "Then is it wisdom, as it thinketh me, to make virtue of necessity." Also see
make the best of.
necessity is the mother of invention
Inventiveness and ingenuity are stimulated by difficulty. For example, The first prisoner to tie together bedsheets to escape knew that necessity was the mother of invention . This proverb first appeared in English in 1519 in slightly different form, "Need taught him wit," and exists in many other languages as well.
of necessity
Also, out of necessity. As an inevitable consequence, unavoidably, as in the New Testament: "Of necessity he must release one unto them at the Feast" (Luke 23:17). [Late 1300s]
of necessity
As an inevitable consequence; necessarily.