if need be

短语

如果需要的话

发音

AU

别名

if needs be

释义与例句

adv.
  1. 1.

    If necessary; if there is a need.

    习语

    1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London And I am quite sure that Max Carrados won't walk in here without making it certain that if he doesn't soon come out again the C.I.D. will smash down the door if need be to find out what has happened.

词源

Need is a noun, be a subjunctive. Perhaps an alteration of Old English phrases like ġif þearf bēo, literally "if need be". That phrase would have been completely unidiomatic, equivalent to "if a need exists" or "if there is a need". This is because (1) Old English had no indefinite article, (2) the word for "to be" was also the default word for "to exist" and translates the modern phrase "there is", and (3) the subjunctive mood was much more common and often translates the Modern English indicative.

来源：wiktionary