Word.ws English Dictionary

moving the needle

moving the needle is the present participle and gerund 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 moving the needle

What is moving the needle the present participle and gerund of?
Moving the needle is the present participle and gerund of move the needle.

Words near moving the needle in the dictionary

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

Source and license

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