To satisfy means to fulfill a need, desire, or requirement completely. When you're hungry and eat a good meal, the food satisfies your hunger. When you work hard on a book report and meet all the requirements, your work satisfies the teacher's expectations.

The word suggests providing enough to make something feel complete or resolved. A glass of water might satisfy your thirst on a cool day, but after playing soccer in the heat, you might need three glasses to feel truly satisfied. A simple answer might satisfy a curious five-year-old, but satisfying a scientist's questions about how something works requires detailed evidence and clear explanations.

You can satisfy curiosity by finding answers, satisfy a debt by paying what you owe, or satisfy requirements by meeting every condition. When something is satisfying, it leaves you feeling content and fulfilled, like finishing a challenging puzzle or reading the last page of a great book. The feeling of satisfaction is that pleasant sense of completion when a need has been met or a job has been done well.

Notice that satisfy often implies meeting a standard or expectation: it means getting enough of something to feel complete.