Search Result for "needle": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (4)

1. the leaf of a conifer;
[syn: acerate leaf, needle]

2. a slender pointer for indicating the reading on the scale of a measuring instrument;

3. a sharp pointed implement (usually steel);

4. a stylus that formerly made sound by following a groove in a phonograph record;
[syn: phonograph needle, needle]


VERB (2)

1. goad or provoke,as by constant criticism;
- Example: "He needled her with his sarcastic remarks"
[syn: needle, goad]

2. prick with a needle;


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Needle \Nee"dle\, v. t. 1. To form in the shape of a needle; as, to needle crystals. [1913 Webster] 2. To tease (a person), especially repeatedly. [PJC] 3. To prod or goad (someone) into action by teasing or daring. [PJC]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Needle \Nee"dle\, v. i. To form needles; to crystallize in the form of needles. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Needle \Nee"dle\ (n[=e]"d'l), n. [OE. nedle, AS. n[=ae]dl; akin to D. neald, OS. n[=a]dla, G. nadel, OHG. n[=a]dal, n[=a]dala, Icel. n[=a]l, Sw. n[*a]l, Dan. naal, and also to G. n[aum]hen to sew, OHG. n[=a]jan, L. nere to spin, Gr. ne`ein, and perh. to E. snare: cf. Gael. & Ir. snathad needle, Gael. snath thread, G. schnur string, cord.] 1. A small instrument of steel, sharply pointed at one end, with an eye to receive a thread, -- used in sewing. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] Note: In some needles (as for sewing machines) the eye is at the pointed end, but in ordinary needles it is at the blunt end. [1913 Webster] 2. See Magnetic needle, under Magnetic. [1913 Webster] 3. A slender rod or wire used in knitting; a knitting needle; also, a hooked instrument which carries the thread or twine, and by means of which knots or loops are formed in the process of netting, knitting, or crocheting. [1913 Webster] 4. (Bot.) One of the needle-shaped secondary leaves of pine trees. See Pinus. [1913 Webster] 5. Any slender, pointed object, like a needle, as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc. [1913 Webster] 6. A hypodermic needle; a syringe fitted with a hypodermic needle, used for injecting fluids into the body. [Informal] [PJC] 7. An injection of medicine from a hypodermic needle; a shot. [PJC] Dipping needle. See under Dipping. Needle bar, the reciprocating bar to which the needle of a sewing machine is attached. Needle beam (Arch.), in shoring, the horizontal cross timber which goes through the wall or a pier, and upon which the weight of the wall rests, when a building is shored up to allow of alterations in the lower part. Needle furze (Bot.), a prickly leguminous plant of Western Europe; the petty whin (Genista Anglica). Needle gun, a firearm loaded at the breech with a cartridge carrying its own fulminate, which is exploded by driving a slender needle, or pin, into it. [archaic] Needle loom (Weaving), a loom in which the weft thread is carried through the shed by a long eye-pointed needle instead of by a shuttle. Needle ore (Min.), acicular bismuth; a sulphide of bismuth, lead, and copper occuring in acicular crystals; -- called also aikinite. Needle shell (Zool.), a sea urchin. Needle spar (Min.), aragonite. Needle telegraph, a telegraph in which the signals are given by the deflections of a magnetic needle to the right or to the left of a certain position. Sea needle (Zool.), the garfish. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Stylus \Sty"lus\, n. [L. stylus, or better stilus.] 1. An instrument for writing. See Style, n., 1. [1913 Webster] 2. That needle-shaped part at the tip of the playing arm of phonograph which sits in the groove of a phonograph record while it is turning, to detect the undulations in the phonograph groove and convert them into vibrations which are transmitted to a system (since 1920 electronic) which converts the signal into sound; also called needle. The stylus is frequently composed of a hard metal or of diamond. [PJC] 3. The needle-like device used to cut the grooves which record the sound on the original disc during recording of a phonograph record; it is moved by the vibrations given to the diaphragm by a sound, and produces the indented record. [PJC] 4. (Computers) A pen-shaped pointing device used to specify the cursor position on a graphics tablet. [PJC] Stymie
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

needle n 1: the leaf of a conifer [syn: acerate leaf, needle] 2: a slender pointer for indicating the reading on the scale of a measuring instrument 3: a sharp pointed implement (usually steel) 4: a stylus that formerly made sound by following a groove in a phonograph record [syn: phonograph needle, needle] v 1: goad or provoke,as by constant criticism; "He needled her with his sarcastic remarks" [syn: needle, goad] 2: prick with a needle