Word.ws English Dictionary

needles

needles is the plural of needle.

needles is the third-person singular simple present indicative of needle.

needles is the obsolete spelling of needless.

Meaning of needle

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.
    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
  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.

See all 14 meanings of needle

Meaning of needless

Adjective

needless (comparative more needless, superlative most needless)

  1. Not needed; unnecessary.
    • This new project of yours will only be a needless expense.
    Antonyms:
    needful

See all 2 meanings of needless

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Needles

the Needles

  1. A set of three stacks of chalk off the western coast of the Isle of Wight, England.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Needles

Needles

  1. A city in San Bernardino County, California, United States.
  2. A locality in Meander Valley council area, northern Tasmania, Australia.
  3. A surname

Forms of needles

comparativemore needles
superlativemost needles

Origin of needles

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

See needless.

Words formed from needles

Phrases with needles

14 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about needles

What does needles mean?
Needles means a set of three stacks of chalk off the western coast of the Isle of Wight, England.
What is needles the plural of?
Needles is the plural of needle.
What part of speech is needles?
Needles is a proper noun.

Words near needles in the dictionary

  1. needlepunched
  2. needlepunches
  3. needlepunching
  4. needler
  5. needlers
  6. needles
  7. needles in a haystack
  8. needles in haystacks
  9. needlescopic
  10. needlescopic surgery
  11. needlescopy

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: needles (page history and authors); Needles (page history and authors); needle (page history and authors); needless (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:

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