needle. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

needle


SYLLABICATION:	nee·dle
PRONUNCIATION:	ndl
NOUN:	1a. A small, slender implement used for sewing or surgical suturing, made usually of polished steel and having an eye at one end through which a length of thread is passed and held. b. Any one of various other implements, such as one used in knitting or crocheting. 2. A slender piece of jewel or steel used to transmit vibrations from the grooves of a phonograph record. 3a. A slender pointer or indicator on a dial, scale, or similar part of a mechanical device. b. A magnetic needle. 4a. A hypodermic needle. b. Informal A hypodermic injection; a shot. 5. Chiefly Upper Northern U.S. See dragonfly. See Regional Note at dragonfly. 6. A narrow stiff leaf, as those of conifers. 7. A fine, sharp projection, as a spine of a sea urchin or a crystal. 8. A sharp-pointed instrument used in engraving. 9. Informal A goading, provoking, or teasing remark or act.
VERB:	Inflected forms: nee·dled, nee·dling, nee·dles
TRANSITIVE VERB:	1. To prick, pierce, or stitch with a small, slender, sharp-pointed implement. 2. Informal To goad, provoke, or tease. 3. Slang To increase the alcoholic content of (a beverage).
INTRANSITIVE VERB:	To sew or do similar work with a small, slender, sharp-pointed implement.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English nedle, from Old English ndl. See (s)n- in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:	needler —NOUN


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.