Word.ws English Dictionary

moved the needle

moved the needle is the simple past and past participle of move the needle.

Meaning of move the needle

Verb

move the needle (third-person singular simple present moves the needle, present participle moving the needle, simple past and past participle moved the needle)

  1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To change a situation to a noticeable degree; to make an appreciable difference.
    • Think Red Hots are a taste challenge? Or the Atomic Fireball is the ultimate tongue torture? They barely move the needle for confectionery connoisseurs.2002 July 28, Janice M. Horowitz, “Hot Stuff”, in Time

Questions about moved the needle

What is moved the needle the simple past and past participle of?
Moved the needle is the simple past and past participle of move the needle.

Words near moved the needle in the dictionary

  1. moved south
  2. moved the deckchairs on the Titanic
  3. moved the dial
  4. moved the goal posts
  5. moved the goalposts
  6. moved the needle
  7. moved the problem
  8. moved the yardsticks
  9. moved through the gears
  10. moved to
  11. moved up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: moved the needle (page history and authors); move the needle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “moved the needle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/moved_the_needle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.