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Definition of: must
(must) v.
A defective verb now used only as an auxiliary followed by the infinitive without to, or elliptically with the infinitive understood, to express:
1. Obligation or compulsion: Must you go? I must.
2. Requirement: You must be healthy to be accepted.
3. Probability or supposition: You must be tired.
4. Conviction or certainty: War must follow. ♦ A past conditional is formed by placing the following verb in the perfect infinitive: He must have gone.
—noun
1. Anything that is required or vital.
2. A news item or other material that must be printed: usually marked must.
—adjective Important and essential: a must book. [OE moste, pt. of mōtan may]
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