need (something) like (one) needs a hole in the head

To have absolutely no need or use for something. I'm perfectly happy having a cell phone that just makes phone calls—I need a fancy new smartphone like I need a hole in the head. We have enough problems with the business as it is, so we need an audit right now like we need a hole in the head.

need something like a hole in the head

not to need something at all. I need a house cat like I need a hole in the head! She needs another car like she needs a hole in the head.

need like a hole in the head

Have neither a need nor a desire for something, as in I needed that extra work like I need a hole in the head. This expression has such ancestors as "As much need of it as he has of the pip [a disease] or of a cough," from John Ray's English Proverbs (1678), and "As much need of it as a toad of a side pocket," from Francis Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785). [Slang; c. 1940]

need something like a hole in the head

need something like you need a hole in the head

INFORMAL

If you say that you need something or someone like a hole in the head or like you need a hole in the head, you mean that you do not need or want them at all. I need more publicity like a hole in the head. We need an interest rate rise like we need a hole in the head. Note: This is said to be a translation of a Yiddish expression. It became more widely known following the play `A Hole in the Head' (1957) by Arnold Schulman, and a film of the same name starring Frank Sinatra (1959).

See also: head, hole, like, need, something

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

need something like a hole in the head

used to emphasize that someone has absolutely no need or desire for something. informal

See also: head, hole, like, need, something

need/want somebody/something like (you need/want) a ˌhole in the ˈhead

(informal) definitely not need/want somebody/something at all: I had to get home before midnight, and just then I needed a flat tyre like a hole in the head.

See also: head, hole, like, need, somebody, something, want

need (something) like a hole in the head, to

A superfluous item, something one does not want at all. A slangy Americanism of the 1940s, it is the modern equivalent of “as much need on’t, as he hath of the pip [a disease], or of a cough” (John Ray, English Proverbs, 1678) and “as much need of it as a toad of a side pocket” (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785). The 1944 collection of articles from the U.S. Army publication Yank had “The Partisans need chow-chow like they need a hole in the head” (Best from Yank).