(law, US) A legal document issued by a federal or state regulatory agency with authority over an area which affirms that a proposed acquisition, expansion, or creation of a facility falling under that authority is required to fulfill the needs of a community.

plural of Certificate of Need

(idiomatic) To need something immediately or urgently; to need something that is already late.

Something that one needs to know; a piece of necessary information.

(idiomatic) (of information) given to another only when necessary.

Of necessity or need; necessarily.

(programming) An evaluation strategy in which the arguments to a function are evaluated the first time they are used in that function.

(dated) A pleonastic intensification of must using the adverb needs, meaning “must necessarily”.

With respect to financial or other assistance, derived from need rather than earned by merit.

(paganism) A ritual fire created by friction.