Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - demand

 I. noun  Date: 13th century  1.  a. an act of ~ing or asking especially with authority a ~ for obedience  b. something claimed as due a list of ~s  2. archaic question  3.  a. willingness and ability to purchase a commodity or service the ~ for quality day care  b. the quantity of a commodity or service wanted at a specified price and time supply and ~  4.  a. a seeking or state of being sought after in great ~ as an entertainer  b. urgent need  5. the requirement of work or of the expenditure of a resource equal to the ~s of the office ~s on one's time oxygen ~ for waste oxidation  II. verb  Etymology: Middle English demaunden, from Anglo-French ~er, from Medieval Latin ~are, from Latin, to entrust, charge, from de- + mandare to enjoin — more at mandate  Date: 14th century  intransitive verb to make a ~ ; ask  transitive verb  1. to ask or call for with authority ; claim as due or just ~ed to see a lawyer  2. to call for urgently, peremptorily, or insistently ~ed that the rioters disperse  3.  a. to ask authoritatively or earnestly to be informed of ~ the reason for the dismissal  b. to require to come ; summon  4. to call for as useful or necessary etiquette ~s a handwritten thank-you  • ~able adjective  • ~er noun Synonyms:  ~, claim, require, exact mean to ask or call for something as due or as necessary. ~ implies peremptoriness and insistence and often the right to make requests that are to be regarded as commands ~ed payment of the debt. claim implies a ~ for the delivery or concession of something due as one's own or one's right claimed the right to manage his own affairs. require suggests the imperativeness that arises from inner necessity, compulsion of law or regulation, or the exigencies of the situation the patient requires constant attention. exact implies not only ~ing but getting what one ~s exacts absolute loyalty.