needle

Meaning

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.
2. Any slender, pointed object resembling a needle, such as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.
3. A fine measurement indicator on a dial or graph.
4. (informal) A sensor for playing phonograph records, a phonograph stylus.
5. A needle-like leaf found on some conifers.
6. A strong beam resting on props, used as a temporary support during building repairs.
7. (informal) The death penalty carried out by lethal injection.
8. A text string that is searched for within another string. (see: needle in a haystack)
9. Any of various species of damselfly of the genus Synlestes, endemic to Australia.
10. 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.
2. (transitive) To tease in order to provoke; to poke fun at.
3. (ambitransitive) To form, or be formed, in the shape of a needle.

Synonyms

pin

hand

✋

thorn

indicator

pointer

injection

awl

nail

stylus

sew

sewing needle

🪡

phonograph needle

syringe

💉

prickle

spine

stitch

bug

🐛

thread

🧵

pierce

goad

bother

acerate leaf

nag

hypodermic needle

annoy

obelisk

spike

spur

needles

needlewoman

peak

peg

penetrate

pivot

probe

quill

ridge

sewing

sewing machine

shot

snipe

spicule

summit

tack

tease

tiptop

top

🔝

vertex

vex

wire

Translations

aiguille

Nadel

aguja

ago

naald

agulha

agulla

acus

épingle

iğne

βελόνα

puntina

lancetta

✋

wijzer

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈniː.dəl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: nedle

Inherited from Old English: nǣdl

Cognate with Dutch: naald

Cognate with German: Nadel

Cognate with German: nähen

Cognate with Danish: nål

Cognate with Norwegian: nål

Cognate with Finnish: neula

In summary

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.