<B>needle, </B>noun, verb, <B>-dled,</B> <B>-dling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a very slender tool, sharp at one end and with a hole or eye to pass a thread through, used in sewing. <BR> <I>Ex. Mother sewed the button on my coat with needle and bright yellow thread.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a slender rod used in knitting. <DD><B> 3. </B>a rod with a hook at one end used in crocheting. <DD><B> 4. </B>a thin steel pointer on a compass, electrical machinery, or some gauges, such as a speedometer or an altimeter. <BR> <I>Ex. The needle shot up above forty as we sped along in the car.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a slender steel tube with a sharp point at one end. It is used at the end of a hypodermic syringe especially for injecting something below the skin or withdrawing blood or other body fluid. <BR> <I>Ex. The doctor jabbed the needle into my arm.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal.) an injection, as of a drug. <DD><B> 7. </B>an instrument somewhat like a needle, used in engraving or etching. <DD><B> 8. </B><B>=phonograph needle.</B> <DD><B> 9. </B>the thin pointed leaf of a fir tree or pine tree. <DD><B> 10. </B>an object resembling a needle in sharpness. <BR> <I>Ex. needles of broken glass or ice.</I> <DD><B> 11. </B>a slender rod that controls the opening of a valve. <DD><B> 12. </B>a pillar; obelisk. <BR> <I>Ex. Cleopatra's Needle.</I> <DD><B> 13. </B>(Mineralogy, Chemistry.) a crystal or spicule like a needle in shape. <BR> <I>Ex. One such isotope, in the form of germanium oxide needles, can be inserted in the body and left there (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 14. </B>(Geology.) a pinnacle of rock tapering to a point. <DD><B> 15. </B><B>=dipole </B>(def. 2b). <DD><B> 16. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>a spur, goad, or stimulus. <BR> <I>Ex. Without the constant needle of improving competition the men at the top will find it difficult to improve any further (London Times).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a barbed or sarcastic remark. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>(Informal.) to vex by sharp remarks; goad, incite, or annoy. <BR> <I>Ex. to needle someone into taking action. That ghoulish voice began needling me again (S. J. Perelman).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to sew or pierce with a needle. <DD><B> 3. </B>to add alcohol to (beer, ale, or the like). <BR> <I>Ex. The impact of the needled soft drink ... had been such as to make him ill (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Informal.) to give an injection, as of a drug, to. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to work with a needle. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Mineralogy, Chemistry.) to form needle-shaped crystals. <BR><I>expr. <B>a needle in a</B> (or <B>the</B>) <B>haystack,</B> </I>something extremely difficult or impossible to find or reach. <BR> <I>Ex. We are looking for a needle in the haystack--that one buyer in the hundreds of thousands who will see the ad (Burnett Bear).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>give one the needle,</B> </I>(Informal.) to urge to action or response; goad; incite; prod. <BR> <I>Ex. It's mostly a question of giving our personnel the needle to make them try a little harder (Wall Street Journal).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>on the needle,</B> </I>(U.S. Slang.) addicted to heroin. <BR> <I>Ex. "How she managed to protect her children is a mystery. None of us has been in prison. None has been on the needle" (New York Times).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>thread the needle,</B> </I>to accomplish a difficult task. <BR> <I>Ex. [He] expressed hope that the committee "can succeed in making the compromises and threading the needle" to get authorization for the central Arizona plan (William M. Blair).</I> adj. <B>needlelike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="needlebath">
<B>needle bath,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a bath in which the water is forced against the body in needlelike jets. </DL>
<A NAME="needlebug">
<B>needle bug,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of the slender-bodied, long-legged hemipterous insects found in freshwater ponds, common in the United States. </DL>
<A NAME="needlefish">
<B>needlefish, </B>noun, pl. <B>-fishes</B> or (collectively) <B>-fish.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of a group of marine fishes comprising a family, similar to the freshwater garfish although not related to them; billfish; gar. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=pipefish.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="needleful">
<B>needleful, </B>noun, pl. <B>-fuls.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a suitable length of thread for using at one time with a needle. </DL>
<A NAME="needlegun">
<B>needle gun,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a breechloading rifle in which the charge is exploded by the impact of a needle or slender steel pin, used by the Prussian army in 1866 and 1870. </DL>
<A NAME="needleice">
<B>needle ice,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> slender bits of ice formed, as in wet soil or the bottom of a stream, during cold weather. </DL>
<A NAME="needleleaftree">
<B>needleleaf tree,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any tree with narrow, pointed, needlelike or scalelike leaves, including most coniferous trees, such as firs, hemlocks, pines, cedars, and spruces. </DL>
<A NAME="needlenosed">
<B>needle-nosed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having a tapered nose to reduce air resistance at high speeds. <BR> <I>Ex. The cramped cockpit of a needle-nosed, stub-winged plane (Time).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>having tapered ends for getting into small spaces or working with small objects. <BR> <I>Ex. needle-nosed pliers.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="needlepoint">
<B>needlepoint, </B>noun, adjective, or <B>needle point.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>embroidery made with colored yarns on a coarse, stiff canvas cloth and used to cover chairs and footstools, or to make wallhangings. Usually woolen yarns are used. <DD><B> 2. </B>a lace made entirely with a needle instead of a bobbin, using a pattern of parchment or paper; point lace. <DD><I>adj. </I> Also, <B>needle-point.</B> of or having to do with needlepoint. </DL>
<A NAME="needler">
<B>needler, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a person who incites or irritates others, usually by incessant nagging, heckling, reminding, or the like. </DL>
<A NAME="needleshaped">
<B>needle-shaped, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> long and slender, with one or both ends sharp. </DL>
<A NAME="needless">
<B>needless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> not needed or wanted; unnecessary; useless. <BR> <I>Ex. It is silly to ask a needless question. Congress is taking a needless risk as long as it allows this important constitutional problem to remain clouded in doubt (Newsweek).</I> adv. <B>needlessly.</B> noun <B>needlessness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="needlestone">
<B>needlestone, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a mineral having needle-shaped crystals, such as natrolite. </DL>
<A NAME="needletime">
<B>needle time,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) the air time in radio broadcasting devoted to recorded music. </DL>
<A NAME="needletrade">
<B>needle trade</B> or <B>trades,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the trade or business of manufacturing clothing, including all of its members. </DL>
<A NAME="needlevalve">
<B>needle valve,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a valve whose very small opening is controlled by a slender, needle-shaped rod projecting into it, used especially in carburetors and other devices requiring a precise adjustment of the flow of a liquid. </DL>
<A NAME="needlewoman">
<B>needlewoman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-women.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a woman who is a skillful sewer. <DD><B> 2. </B>a woman who earns her living by sewing; seamstress. </DL>
<A NAME="needlework">
<B>needlework, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>work done with a needle; sewing; embroidery. <DD><B> 2. </B>the work or occupation of sewing with a needle. </DL>
<A NAME="needleworker">
<B>needleworker, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who does needlework. </DL>
<A NAME="needly">
<B>needly, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> like a needle or needless; full of needles. <BR> <I>Ex. a needly thorn, a needly bush.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="needments">
<B>needments, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> things needed; necessaries; requisites. </DL>
<A NAME="neednt">
<B>needn't,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> need not. </DL>
<A NAME="needs">
<B>needs, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> because of necessity; necessarily. <BR> <I>Ex. A soldier needs must go where duty calls. You must needs be a stranger in this region ... else you would surely have heard of Mistress Hester Prynne (Hawthorne).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="needy">
<B>needy, </B>adjective, <B>needier,</B> <B>neediest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> not having enough to live on; characterized by poverty or need; very poor. <BR> <I>Ex. a needy family, to be in needy circumstances.</I> (SYN) indigent, destitute, penniless. </DL>
<A NAME="neemtree">
<B>neem tree,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a meliaceous tree of India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), sometimes 50 feet high, with broad, pinnate leaves; margosa. The natives chew its small twigs and use them as toothbrushes. </DL>
<A NAME="neep">
<B>neep, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) a turnip. </DL>
<B>ne'er-do-well, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a worthless fellow; good-for-nothing person. <BR> <I>Ex. The eldest son is a hard-drinking ne'er-do-well, with a bitter hostility toward his father (Atlantic).</I> (SYN) scapegrace. <DD><I>adj. </I> worthless; good-for-nothing. <BR> <I>Ex. one of those ne'er-do-well lads who seem to have a ... magnetic power for misfortunes (Elizabeth Gaskell).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="neeze">
<B>neeze, </B>intransitive verb, <B>neezed,</B> <B>neezing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) to sneeze. </DL>
<B>negate, </B>transitive verb, <B>-gated,</B> <B>-gating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to destroy, nullify, or make ineffective. <BR> <I>Ex. If gravity can be understood scientifically and negated or neutralized in some relatively inexpensive manner ... (New York Herald Tribune).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to declare not to exist; deny. </DL>
