Word.ws English Dictionary

moves the needle

moves the needle is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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 moves the needle

What is moves the needle the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Moves the needle is the third-person singular simple present indicative of move the needle.

Words near moves the needle in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: moves 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: “moves the needle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/moves_the_needle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.