Dictionary — ontologydriven

needs must en · VERB

(alt-of, alternative, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Alternative form of must needs.
alt of must needs
- Then I walked about, till I found on the further side, a great river of sweet water, running with a strong current; whereupon I called to mind the boat-raft I had made aforetime and said to myself, "Needs must I make another; haply I may free me from this strait. If I escape, I have my desire and I vow to Allah Almighty to forswear travel; and if I perish I shall be at peace and shall rest from toil and moil." 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 564:

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
needs must	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres		lexicographic
needs must	Tense=Past		lexicographic

(abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of needs must when the devil drives.
alt of needs must when the devil drives
- “Needs must,” and the haughty summons of Britain rings even in the impregnable heart of Thibet. This is the mission of Empire, the will of a dominant people bent on advancing the interests of trade. 1905, The Chronicle of the London Missionary Society, page 199:
- "Needs must and all that – and the devil so often does, doesn't he?" “Excuse me?" "Drives – the devil. Such a relentless old bugger." 1999, Jill Laurimore, Going to Pot, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 155: