Word.ws English Dictionary

needling

/ˈniːdlɪŋ/

needling noun: a needy person. Also the present participle and gerund of needle.

Noun (1)

needling (plural needlings)

  1. A needy person.

Noun (2)

IPA/ˈnid(ə)lɪŋ/

needling (plural needlings)

  1. The act of one who needles or annoys.
    • […] it is a steady drip drip of small imperceptible needlings and irritations, coming day after day between a man and his wife, […]2017, Paul Chrystal, When in Rome: Social Life in Ancient Rome

Also used as

needling is also the present participle and gerund of needle.

Forms of needling

pluralneedlings

Origin of needling

From need + -ling.

From needle + -ing.

Words formed from needling

Questions about needling

What does needling mean?
Needling means a needy person.
What part of speech is needling?
Needling is a noun.
How do you pronounce needling?
Needling is pronounced /ˈniːdlɪŋ/.
What is the plural of needling?
The plural of needling is needlings.

Words near needling in the dictionary

  1. needleworking
  2. needleworks
  3. needlewoven
  4. needlier
  5. needliest
  6. needling
  7. needlingly
  8. needlings
  9. needly
  10. needment
  11. needments

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: needling (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: “needling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/needling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.