must

Fetched 2026-11-01 (live).

Datamuse reports no synonyms or antonyms for this word.

Verb

1. To do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the sentence predicate, with failure to do so resulting in a failure or negative consequence.
   • You must arrive in class on time.
   • This door handle must be rotated fully.
   • Everybody told me I must stop worrying, but I couldn't, because I knew that somehow there was still something wrong about the situation.
   • You really must come and see us soon, pal. - We'll see: I can borrow my dad's car, but I must bring it back before midnight.
   • The physician said that I must / had to / would have to stop smoking.
2. To do with certainty; indicates that the speaker is certain that the subject will have executed the predicate.
   • If it has rained all day, it must be very wet outside.
   • Where would you have put the keyring? You couldn’t have lost it again! - I must have, because it's nowhere to be found.
   • I said it must be pretty late and I really must go.
   • She's being taken to the police car now , so they must be going to arrest her.
3. Used to indicate that something is very likely, probable, or certain to be true.
   • The children must be asleep by now.
   • There's the doorbell. It must be Dad.

Noun

1. Something that is mandatory, required or recommended.
   • If you're trekking all day, a map is a must.

Noun

1. The property of being stale or musty.
2. Something that exhibits the property of being stale or musty.
3. Fruit juice that will ferment or has fermented, usually from grapes (in winemaking) or apples (in cidermaking).
   • The guide then explained that the must drains from the cider press and runs into the vats where it will ferment.

Verb

1. To make musty.
2. To become musty.

Noun

1. Alternative spelling of musth.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wiktionary) · cached copy, not a rewrite.