needle
/ˈniː.dəl/ noun B1- 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.· reusable needles
- Any slender, pointed object resembling a needle, such as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.
- A fine measurement indicator on a dial or graph. · a compass needle· The needle on the fuel gauge pointed to empty.
- A sensor for playing phonograph records, a phonograph stylus. · Ziggy bought some diamond needles for his hi-fi phonograph.
- A needle-like leaf found on some conifers.
- A strong beam resting on props, used as a temporary support during building repairs.
- The death penalty carried out by lethal injection.
- A text string that is searched for within another string. (see: needle in a haystack)
Plural needles
From the library
You would expose the self-love of another with a hatchet, but you shrink if your own is attacked with a needle.”
“Why are those needles and pins sticking out of your head?” asked the Tin Woodman.
So Dorothy took a needle and thread, and as fast as Oz cut the strips of silk into proper shape the girl sewed them neatly together.
Then he entered the back room and took up a measure of bran, which he mixed with a great many pins and needles.
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