Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

essential

2 noun
     
essential2
1 [countable usually plural] something that is necessary to do something or in a particular situation:
She packed a few essentials.
We only had the bare essentials (=the most necessary things).
2

the essentials

[plural] the basic and most important information or facts about a particular subject
the essentials of
We have no reason to doubt the essentials of the girl's story.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary