de·mand
(dĭ-mănd́)
[Middle English demanden, from Old French demander, to charge with doing,, and from Medieval Latin dēmandāre, to demand, both from Latin, to entrust, dē-, de-, + mandāre, to entrust.]
verb: -mand·ed, -mand·ing, -mands.
transitive verb
- To ask for urgently or peremptorily: demand an investigation into the murder; demanding that he leave immediately; demanded to speak to the manager.
- To claim as just or due: demand repayment of a loan.
- To ask to be informed of: I demand a reason for this interruption.
- To require as useful, just, proper, or necessary; call for: a gem that demands a fine setting.
- Law
- To summon to court.
- To claim formally; lay legal claim to.
intransitive verb
- To make a demand.
noun
- The act of demanding.
- Something demanded: granted the employees' demands.
- An urgent requirement or need: the heavy demands of her job; the emotional demands of his marriage; an increased oxygen demand.
- The state of being sought after: in great demand as a speaker.
- Economics
- The desire to possess a commodity or make use of a service, combined with the ability to purchase it.
- The amount of a commodity or service that people are ready to buy for a given price: Supply should rise to meet demand.
- Computer Science A coding technique in which a command to read or write is initiated as the need for a new block of data occurs, thus eliminating the need to store data.
- Law A formal claim.
- Archaic An emphatic question or inquiry.
idioms
- on demand
- When presented for payment: a note payable on demand. When needed or asked for: fed the baby on demand.
derivatives
- de·mand́a·ble
- adjective
- de·mand́er
- noun
synonyms:
demand, claim, exact, require These verbs mean to ask for urgently or insistently: demanding better working conditions; claiming repayment of a debt; exacted obedience from the child; tax payments required by law.
