Word.ws English Dictionary

needle

Syllables: nee·dle/ˈniː.dəl/

needle noun: a long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing as in sewing, embroidery, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections, sutures, etc; or a blunt but otherwise similar implement used for forming loops or knots in crafts such as darning, knitting, tatting, etc.

needle: a long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing as in sewing, embroidery, acupuncture,...
Image: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

needle (plural needles)

  1. A long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing as in sewing, embroidery, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections, sutures, etc; or a blunt but otherwise similar implement used for forming loops or knots in crafts such as darning, knitting, tatting, etc.
    • The seamstress threaded the needle to sew on a button.
    • reusable needles
    Synonyms:
    neele
  2. Any slender, pointed object resembling a needle, such as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.
  3. A fine measurement indicator on a dial or graph.
    • a compass needle
    • The needle on the fuel gauge pointed to empty.
  4. (informal) A sensor for playing phonograph records, a phonograph stylus.
    • Ziggy bought some diamond needles for his hi-fi phonograph.
  5. A needle-like leaf found on some conifers.
    • At the very moment he cried out, David realised that what he had run into was only the Christmas tree. Disgusted with himself at such cowardice, he spat a needle from his mouth.1994, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Hippopotamus
  6. A strong beam resting on props, used as a temporary support during building repairs.
  7. (informal, usually preceded by the) The death penalty carried out by lethal injection.
  8. A text string that is searched for within another string. (see: needle in a haystack)
    • Both of these functions will look through the haystack for the specified needle and, if they find it, will return the portion of the string from the beginning of the needle to the end of the haystack.2010, Peter MacIntyre, PHP: The Good Parts, page 39
  9. Any of various species of damselfly of the genus Synlestes, endemic to Australia.
  10. A move in which the performer begins with two hands and one leg on the floor, then kicks the other leg into a full split.

Verb

needle (third-person singular simple present needles, present participle needling, simple past and past participle needled)

  1. To pierce with a needle, especially for sewing or acupuncture.
    • […]the eyes were once more beginning to show the old nystagmus; so I decided to needle the cataracts, and on Jan. 31 I needled the right eye.1892, H. Lindo Ferguson, “Operation on Microphthamlmic Eyes”, in Ophthalmic Review, volume 11, page 48
    • Possibly the greatest effect is achieved in the hand by needling the thumb, the index finger and the region of the 1st and 2nd metacarpal.2000, Felix Mann, Reinventing Acupuncture, page 109
  2. (transitive) To tease in order to provoke; to poke fun at.
    • Billy needled his sister incessantly about her pimples.
    • FRED: Well, I teased her to some extent, or I needled her, not teased her. I needled her about—first I said that she didn't want to work, and then I think that there were a couple of comments.1984, Leopold Caligor, Philip M. Bromberg, James D. Meltzer, Clinical Perspectives on the Supervision of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, page 14
    Synonyms:
    goad, tease
  3. (ambitransitive) To form, or be formed, in the shape of a needle.
    • to needle crystals

Proper noun capitalized: Needle

Needle (plural Needles)

  1. A surname.

needle meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

needle in Hindi

indicating device
सुई suī
implement for sewing etc.
सुई suī
sensor phonograph stylus
सुई suī

needle in Tamil

implement for sewing etc.
ஊசி ūci

needle in Marathi

implement for sewing etc.
सुई suī

needle in Urdu

implement for sewing etc.
سُوئی sūī, سوزَن sozan
More languagesFewer languages
needle in Bengali
ছুঁচ chũc, সূচী śuci, সুই śui
needle in Telugu
సూది sūdi
needle in Malayalam
സൂചി sūci, കുത്തുക kuttuka
needle in Kannada
ಸೂಜಿ sūji
needle in Punjabi
ਸੂਈ sūī
needle in Gujarati
સોય soya
needle in Odia
ଛୁଞ୍ଚି chuñci, ସୂଚୀ suci
needle in Sanskrit
सूची sūcī
needle in Sinhala
කටුව kaṭuwa, සූචිය sūciya
needle in Assamese
বেজী bezi
needle in Nepali
सुई suī
needle in Pashto
ستن stən
needle in Tagalog
karayom
needle in Arabic
إِبْرَة ʔibra, مِخْيَط miḵyaṭ, إبرة ʔebra
needle in Malay
jarum
needle in Indonesian
jarum
needle in Persian
سوزَن sōzan, سوزن زدن suzan zadan
needle in Thai
เข็ม kěm
needle in Vietnamese
kim
needle in Myanmar
အပ် ap

Examples of needle in a sentence

  • To needle Lady Leviathan, Hel has convinced her husband to agree to the heartful offer.2015, Carl Gleba, “Megaverse in Flames”, in Rifts World Book 35:
  • Significantly, similar language was used by Sullivan, who had been needled by a question from a Ukrainian activist who suggested the US was “afraid of Ukraine winning”.2023 July 12, Dan Sabbagh, “Zelenskiy forced to recalibrate to avert Nato summit falling-out”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

All 40 example sentences with needle

Synonyms of needle

Forms of needle

Noun
pluralneedles
Verb
third-person singular presentneedles
present participleneedling
past participleneedled
pastneedled
Proper noun
pluralNeedles
alternative formNeedell

Plural of needle: needles

Origin of needle

From Middle English nedle, from Old English nǣdl, from Proto-West Germanic *nāþlu, from Proto-Germanic *nēþlō, from pre-Germanic *neh₁-tleh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁- (“to spin, twist”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Näddele (“sewing needle”), Dutch naald (“needle”), German Nadel (“needle, pin, crochet hook”), nähen (“sew”), Luxembourgish Nol (“needle”), Vilamovian nöłd (“needle”), Yiddish נאָדל (nodl, “needle, pin”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish nål (“needle”), Elfdalian ną̊l (“needle”), Faroese, Icelandic nál (“needle”), Gothic 𐌽𐌴𐌸𐌻𐌰 (nēþla, “sewing needle”), Finnish neula (“needle”). Further related with Welsh nyddu, Latin nēre, Sanskrit स्नायति (snāyati, “wraps up, winds”). Related to snood.

* As an English surname, from the noun needle. Compare Nadler. * As a Jewish surname, translation of the surname Nadel, itself meaning needle.

Words formed from needle

Phrases with needle

87 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with needle

Questions about needle

What does needle mean?
Needle means a long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing as in sewing, embroidery, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections, sutures, etc; or a blunt but otherwise similar implement used for forming loops or knots in crafts such as darning, knitting, tatting, etc.
What is needle in Hindi?
Needle in Hindi is सुई (suī). See Needle meaning in Hindi.
How do you use needle in a sentence?
To needle Lady Leviathan, Hel has convinced her husband to agree to the heartful offer.
What part of speech is needle?
Needle can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce needle?
Needle is pronounced /ˈniː.dəl/.
What is the plural of needle?
The plural of needle is needles.

Words near needle in the dictionary

  1. needing one's eyes checked
  2. needing one's head examined
  3. needing to
  4. needings
  5. Needingworth
  6. needle
  7. needle aspiration biopsies
  8. needle aspiration biopsy
  9. needle bar
  10. needle bars
  11. needle beam

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: needle (page history and authors); 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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-needle.ogg, en-au-needle.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-needle.wav.

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