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Needle

name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun

1
A surname.

Noun

1
A long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing as in sewing, embroidery, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections, sutures, etc; or a blunt but otherwise similar implement used for forming loops or knots in crafts such as darning, knitting, tatting, etc.
"The seamstress threaded the needle to sew on a button."
2
a sharp pointed implement (usually steel) wordnet
3
Any slender, pointed object resembling a needle, such as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.
4
a slender pointer for indicating the reading on the scale of a measuring instrument wordnet
5
A fine measurement indicator on a dial or graph.
"a compass needle"

Show 9 more definitions

6
a stylus that formerly made sound by following a groove in a phonograph record wordnet
7
A sensor for playing phonograph records, a phonograph stylus. informal
"Ziggy bought some diamond needles for his hi-fi phonograph."
8
the leaf of a conifer wordnet
9
A needle-like leaf found on some conifers.
"At the very moment he cried out, David realised that what he had run into was only the Christmas tree. Disgusted with himself at such cowardice, he spat a needle from his mouth."
10
A strong beam resting on props, used as a temporary support during building repairs.
11
The death penalty carried out by lethal injection. informal
12
A text string that is searched for within another string. (see: needle in a haystack)
"Both of these functions will look through the haystack for the specified needle and, if they find it, will return the portion of the string from the beginning of the needle to the end of the haystack."
13
Any of various species of damselfly of the genus Synlestes, endemic to Australia.
14
A move in which the performer begins with two hands and one leg on the floor, then kicks the other leg into a full split.

Verb

1
To pierce with a needle, especially for sewing or acupuncture.
"[…]the eyes were once more beginning to show the old nystagmus; so I decided to needle the cataracts, and on Jan. 31 I needled the right eye."
2
annoy or provoke, as by constant criticism wordnet
3
To tease in order to provoke; to poke fun at. transitive
"Billy needled his sister incessantly about her pimples."
4
prick with a needle wordnet
5
To form, or be formed, in the shape of a needle. ambitransitive
"to needle crystals"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English nedle, from Old English nǣdl, from Proto-West Germanic *nāþlu, from Proto-Germanic *nēþlō, from pre-Germanic *neh₁-tleh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁- (“to spin, twist”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Näddele (“sewing needle”), Dutch naald (“needle”), German Nadel (“needle, pin, crochet hook”), nähen (“sew”), Luxembourgish Nol (“needle”), Vilamovian nöłd (“needle”), Yiddish נאָדל (nodl, “needle, pin”), Danish, Swedish nål (“needle”), Elfdalian ną̊l (“needle”), Faroese, Icelandic nál (“needle”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk nål (“needle”), Gothic 𐌽𐌴𐌸𐌻𐌰 (nēþla, “sewing needle”), Finnish neula (“needle”). Further related with Welsh nyddu, Latin nēre, Sanskrit स्नायति (snāyati, “wraps up, winds”). Related to snood.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

* As an English surname, from the noun needle. Compare Nadler. * As a Jewish surname, translation of the surname Nadel, itself meaning needle.

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