Noun
(predicative) The needful thing: something suitable for the purpose.
This book isn't quite the thing.
I need a present for my friend, and I think this is just the thing.
(predicative) The desired thing: someone or something that is popularly favored.
Source: en.wiktionary.orgI love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person. Audrey Hepburn
The historian's one task is to tell the thing as it happened. Lucian
Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off. Franklin D. Roosevelt
A family name is not cooked and eaten, one's life is the thing. Nigerian Proverb
Give a hint to the man of sense, and consider the thing done. Portuguese Proverb
Be the thing you would be called. German Proverb