needle
pronunciation
How to pronounce needle in British English:
UK [ˈniːdl]
How to pronounce needle in American English:
US [ˈniːdl]
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- Noun:
- as of a conifer
- a slender pointer for indicating the reading on the scale of a measuring instrument
- a sharp pointed implement (usually steel)
- a stylus that formerly made sound by following a groove in a phonograph record
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- Verb:
- goad or provoke,as by constant criticism
- prick with a needle
Word Origin
- needle
- needle: [OE] Etymologically, a needle is a ‘sewing’ implement. The word comes from a prehistoric Germanic *nēthlō (source also of German nadel, Dutch naald, Swedish nål, and Danish naal), which was derived from an Indo- European base *nē- ‘sew’ (represented also in English nerve and neural).=> nerve, neural
- needle (n.)
- Old English nædl, from Proto-Germanic *næthlo (cognates: Old Saxon nathla, Old Norse nal, Old Frisian nedle, Old High German nadala, German Nadel, Gothic neþla "needle"), literally "a tool for sewing," from PIE *net-la-, from root *(s)ne- "to sew, to spin" (cognates: Sanskrit snayati "wraps up," Greek nein "to spin," Latin nere "to spin," German nähen "to sew," Old Church Slavonic niti "thread," Old Irish snathat "needle," Welsh nyddu "to sew," nodwydd "needle") + instrumental suffix *-tla.To seke out one lyne in all hys bookes wer to go looke a nedle in a meadow. [Thomas More, c. 1530]Meaning "piece of magnetized steel in a compass" is from late 14c. (on a dial or indicator from 1928); the surgical instrument so called from 1727; phonographic sense from 1902; sense of "leaf of a fir or pine tree" first attested 1797. Needledom "the world of sewing" is from 1847. Needle's eye, figurative of a minute opening, often is a reference to Matt. xix:24.
- needle (v.)
- 1715, "to sew or pierce with a needle," from needle (n.). Meaning "goad, provoke" (1881) probably is from earlier meaning "haggle in making a bargain" (1812). Related: Needled; needling.
Synonym
Example
- 1. On entry and collection it behaves like any other needle .
- 2. The needle 's gyrations supposedly detect the engrams .
- 3. Who designed the space needle ?
- 4. I prefer having a thread with a needle close at hand .
- 5. Doctor puts in a needle in every hand of a patient and the procedure begins .