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needle
[ need-l ]
noun
- a small, slender, rodlike instrument, usually of polished steel, with a sharp point at one end and an eye or hole for thread at the other, for passing thread through cloth to make stitches in sewing.
- any of various similar, usually considerably larger, implements for making stitches, as one for use in knitting or one hooked at the end for use in crocheting.
- Medicine/Medical.
- a slender, pointed, steel instrument used in sewing or piercing tissues, as in suturing.
- Informal. an injection of a drug or medicine; shot.
- any of various objects resembling or suggesting a needle.
- the tapered stylus at the end of a phonographic tonearm, used to transmit vibrations from a record groove to a transducer for conversion to audible signals.
- Electricity. magnetic needle.
- a pointed instrument, or stylus, used in engraving, etching, or the like.
- Botany. a needle-shaped leaf, as of a conifer:
a pine needle.
- Zoology. a slender sharp spicule.
- Chemistry, Mineralogy. a needlelike crystal.
- a sharp-pointed mass or pinnacle of rock.
- an obelisk or a tapering, four-sided shaft of stone:
Cleopatra's Needle.
- Also called needle beam. Building Trades. a short beam passed through a wall as a temporary support.
verb (used with object)
- to sew or pierce with or as if with a needle:
to needle a patch on a sleeve.
- Informal.
- to prod or goad (someone) to a specified action:
We needled her into going with us.
- to tease:
We needled him about his big ears.
- Slang. to add alcohol or ether to (a beverage):
to needle beer.
verb (used without object)
- to form needles in crystallization.
- to work with a needle.
needle
/ ˈniːdəl /
noun
- a pointed slender piece of metal, usually steel, with a hole or eye in it through which thread is passed for sewing
- a somewhat larger rod with a point at one or each end, used in knitting
- a similar instrument with a hook at one end for crocheting
- another name for stylus
- a small thin pointed device, esp one made of stainless steel, used to transmit the vibrations from a gramophone record to the pick-up
- med
- the long hollow pointed part of a hypodermic syringe, which is inserted into the body
- an informal name for hypodermic syringe
- surgery a pointed steel instrument, often curved, for suturing, puncturing, or ligating
- a long narrow stiff leaf, esp of a conifer, in which water loss is greatly reduced
pine needles
- any slender sharp spine, such as the spine of a sea urchin
- any slender pointer for indicating the reading on the scale of a measuring instrument
- See magnetic needleshort for magnetic needle
- a crystal resembling a needle in shape
- a sharp pointed metal instrument used in engraving and etching
- anything long and pointed, such as an obelisk
a needle of light
- a short horizontal beam passed through a wall and supported on vertical posts to take the load of the upper part of the wall
- informal.
- anger or intense rivalry, esp in a sporting encounter
- ( as modifier )
a needle match
- get the needle informal.get the needlehave the needle to feel dislike, distaste, nervousness, or annoyance (for)
she got the needle after he had refused her invitation
verb
- informal.tr to goad or provoke, as by constant criticism
- tr to sew, embroider, or prick (fabric) with a needle
- tr to increase the alcoholic strength of (beer or other beverages)
- intr (of a substance) to form needle-shaped crystals
needle
/ nēd′l /
- A narrow, stiff leaf, as of firs, pines, and other conifers. The reduced surface area of needles minimizes water loss and allows needle-bearing plants to live in dry climates.
- See more at leaf
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Other Words From
- needle·like adjective
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Word History and Origins
Origin of needle1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of needle1
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Idioms and Phrases
- on the needle, Slang. taking drugs by injection, especially habitually.
- the needle, Informal. irritating abuse; teasing; heckling (used especially in the phrases give someone the needle and get the needle ).
More idioms and phrases containing needle
In addition to the idiom beginning with needle , also see on pins and needles .Discover More
Example Sentences
You keep adding relevant, high-quality new content, but the needle barely moves.
We had a data operation that showed how we could do it, but it was really going to be threading the needle.
In college, I volunteered to have a needle jabbed into the fleshy part between my thumb and forefinger in the name of acupuncture.
It was a test of a new type of needle that his team has invented.
A microneedle pokes into the skin just a fraction as deeply as an ordinary needle.
There, he first picked up needle and thread to mend the shirt of an SS guard who had just beaten him.
All of these may factor into the inability to move the needle on the scale.
A sheet covered his body from the neck down, making it impossible to see where, exactly, the needle had been inserted.
For instance, in one study, white subjects were shown videos of people being stuck with a needle.
Lydia also gets her vitals checked, arm rubbed with alcohol, and glove-covered hands safely inserting the needle.
The needle of the archdruidress broke, as she shook her head viciously at the scoffer.
The individual prisms are usually slender, with one beveled, wedge-like end, but are sometimes needle-like.
She was so handy with a needle, and allus ready to cut out calico dingusses that the peon gals could sew up.
Yellowish or brown, needle-like or rhombic crystals of hematoidin (Fig. 32) may be seen after hemorrhage into the bowel.
The dip of the south end of the needle at Goulburn Island was 27 degrees 32 1/2 minutes.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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