What does needle mean?

Definitions for needle
ˈnid lnee·dle

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word needle.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. acerate leaf, needlenoun

    the leaf of a conifer

  2. needlenoun

    a slender pointer for indicating the reading on the scale of a measuring instrument

  3. needlenoun

    a sharp pointed implement (usually steel)

  4. phonograph needle, needleverb

    a stylus that formerly made sound by following a groove in a phonograph record

  5. needle, goadverb

    goad or provoke,as by constant criticism

    "He needled her with his sarcastic remarks"

  6. needleverb

    prick with a needle

GCIDE

  1. Needlenoun

    An injection of medicine from a hypodermic needle; a shot.

  2. Needleverb

    To tease (a person), especially repeatedly.

  3. Needleverb

    To prod or goad (someone) into action by teasing or daring.

Wiktionary

  1. needlenoun

    A long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing such as sewing, or knitting, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections etc.

    The seamstress threaded the needle to sew on a button.

  2. needlenoun

    A long, thin device for indicating measurements on a dial or graph, e.g. a compass needle.

    The needle on the fuel gauge pointed to empty.

  3. needlenoun

    A sensor for playing phonograph records, a phonograph stylus.

    Ziggy bought some diamond needles for his hi-fi phonograph.

  4. needlenoun

    A long, pointed leaf found on some conifers.

  5. needlenoun

    The death penalty carried out by lethal injection.

  6. needleverb

    To pierce with a needle, especially for sewing or acupuncture.

  7. needleverb

    To tease in order to provoke; to poke fun at.

    Billy needled his sister incessantly about her pimples.

  8. Etymology: From nedle, from nædl, from nēþlō, from pre-Germanic, from (s)néh₁- ‘to spin, twist’ (compare Dutch naaien, Welsh nyddu, Latin nere, Lithuanian snaju, Sanskrit ‘wraps up, winds’). Related to snood.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. NEEDLEnoun

    Etymology: nædl , Saxon.

    For him you waste in tears your widow’d hours,
    For him your curious needle paints the flowers. Dryden.

    The use of the loadstone, and the mariners needle was not then known. Thomas Burnet, Theory of the Earth.

ChatGPT

  1. needle

    A needle is a thin, pointed piece of metal, usually with a hole (known as an eye) at one end, used for sewing or stitching materials together. It can also refer to a similar object used for injecting or drawing fluids, as in medical procedures, or for playing records on a turntable. Metaphorically, it can refer to anything long and thin like a needle, such as a needle of a pine tree or a needle on a measurement gauge.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Needlenoun

    a small instrument of steel, sharply pointed at one end, with an eye to receive a thread, -- used in sewing

  2. Needlenoun

    see Magnetic needle, under Magnetic

  3. Needlenoun

    a slender rod or wire used in knitting; a knitting needle; also, a hooked instrument which carries the thread or twine, and by means of which knots or loops are formed in the process of netting, knitting, or crocheting

  4. Needlenoun

    one of the needle-shaped secondary leaves of pine trees. See Pinus

  5. Needlenoun

    any slender, pointed object, like a needle, as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc

  6. Needleverb

    to form in the shape of a needle; as, to needle crystals

  7. Needleverb

    to form needles; to crystallize in the form of needles

  8. Etymology: [OE. nedle, AS. ndl; akin to D. neald, OS. ndla, G. nadel, OHG. ndal, ndala, Icel. nl, Sw. nl, Dan. naal, and also to G. nhen to sew, OHG. njan, L. nere to spin, Gr. ne`ein, and perh. to E. snare: cf. Gael. & Ir. snathad needle, Gael. snath thread, G. schnur string, cord.]

Wikidata

  1. Needle

    The Needle is a comic book character. He is a mutant supervillain in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. Created by Mark Gruenwald, Carmine Infantino, and Al Gordon, the character first appeared in Spider-Woman #9.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Needle

    nēd′l, n. a small, sharp-pointed steel instrument, with an eye for a thread—(Shak.) Neeld, Neele: any slender, pointed instrument like a needle, as the magnet or movable bar of a compass, or for knitting, etching, &c.: anything sharp and pointed, like a pinnacle of rock, &c.: an aciform crystal: a temporary support used by builders to sustain while repairing, being a strong beam resting on props: the long, narrow, needle-like leaf of a pine-tree.—v.t. to form into a shape like a needle, as crystals: to work with a needle.—v.i. to become of the shape of needles, as crystals.—ns. Need′le-book, a number of pieces of cloth, leather, &c. arranged like a book, for holding needles; Need′le-case, a case for holding needles; Need′le-fish, a pipe-fish: a garfish or belonid; Need′leful, as much thread as fills a needle; Need′le-gun, a gun or rifle loaded at the breech, the cartridge of which is exploded by the impact of a needle or spike at its base.—adjs. Need′le-point′ed, pointed like a needle: without a barb, as a fish-hook; Need′le-shaped, shaped like a needle: applied to the long, slender, sharp-pointed leaves of pines, firs, and other trees.—ns. Need′le-tel′egraph, a telegraph the receiver of which gives its messages by the deflections of a magnetic needle; Need′lewoman, a woman who makes her living by her needle, a seamstress; Need′lework, work done with a needle: the business of a seamstress.—adj. Need′ly, thorny. [A.S. nǽdl; Ger. nadel; cog. with Ger. nähen, to sew, L. nēre, to spin.]

The Standard Electrical Dictionary

  1. Needle

    (a) A term applied to a bar magnet poised horizontally upon a vertical point, or suspended in a horizontal position by a filament. Thus the magnet in a mariner's compass, which may be a substantial bar magnet, is called a magnetic needle. (b) An indicator in general shape like the hand of a clock. (Sec Annunciator, Needle- Telegraph, Needle.)

CrunchBase

  1. Needle

    Needle offers the leading sales chat platform for web, social and mobile commerce. Leveraging innovative cloud-sourced and @anywhere technology, Needle offers brand advocates (either yours, or ones we gather for you) as chat agents who know and love your products. Needle’s one-of-a-kind interactive, socially connected chat tools allow your chat agents to wow customers with knowledge and personal attention, lifting AOV, lifetime loyalty and value while increasing ROI.Needle Mobile allows customers to scan a QR or bar code and instantly talk to a product expert from anywhere–including a brick & mortar store.“You’ve been shopping before online and have probably got to the point where you said I wish I could talk to someone about this.That’s what we do. We have built an application that lets us help people find the right product while they are shopping online. To do this, we combine chat and our demonstration tools to provide as close to an ‘in-store’ shopping experience online. And even IN a store, we can make the experience better with our mobile solutions!”Morgan Lynch, Needle CEO.

Dictionary of Nautical Terms

  1. needle

    The Ang.-Sax. nædl. (See also MAGNETIC NEEDLE.)

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer

  1. needle

    A slender bar of steel, usually pointed, and resting on a vertical pivot, in a mariner’s, or other compass, so as to turn freely towards the magnetic poles of the earth by virtue of the magnetic polarity with which it has been artificially endued; called also the magnetic needle.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. NEEDLE

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Needle is ranked #30889 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Needle surname appeared 753 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Needle.

    94.2% or 710 total occurrences were White.
    2.7% or 21 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    1.7% or 13 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    0.8% or 6 total occurrences were Black.

British National Corpus

  1. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'needle' in Nouns Frequency: #1653

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce needle?

How to say needle in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of needle in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of needle in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of needle in a Sentence

  1. Matthew 1924 Bible:

    Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

  2. Iris Pang:

    I think it will boost job numbers only by a little, it shouldn't be big enough to move the needle.

  3. Richard Isaacson:

    In this study, while the Mediterranean diet overall decreased risk, the strongest factor to really move the needle was regular fish consumption.

  4. Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray:

    What Rubio did is not going to convince any Trump voters that they're wrong; in fact, it's only going to further convince them they're right -- we've seen this time and time again, the message Rubio was sending to people supporting Cruz, Kasich and (Ben) Carson. ... I'm not sure how much it's going to move the needle. It's going to move it somewhat, but I don't think it'll move it 15 points, which is what Rubio needs.

  5. Christopher Thornberg:

    It was very impressive politically, but we don't really know ultimately if she moved the needle.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

needle#1#9233#10000

Translations for needle

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"needle." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/needle>.

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    immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth
    A greedy
    B disjointed
    C sought
    D aligned

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