Noun
I need a needle and thread to sew the button on your shirt.
The needle on the scale points to 9 grams.
The compass needle points north. Verb
His classmates needled him about his new haircut.
we needled him mercilessly for thinking that he had any chance of being the prom date for the school's most popular girl
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Acupressure is similar to acupuncture but uses massage and pressure instead of needles.—Nick Blackmer, Verywell Health, 31 May 2024 Cart or caddie? Punch out or try to thread the needle?—Red Fabbri, Travel + Leisure, 29 May 2024
Verb
This could ring especially true as choosy Venus in your routine 6th house needles unstable Uranus in your boundless 9th house, showing you all the options waiting for you — realistic or not.—Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 3 Mar. 2024 Burrow, who appeared along with teammate offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr., needled Kelce a bit, telling him that the Bengals were custom built to beat KC.—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 12 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for needle
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'needle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English nedle, from Old English nǣdl; akin to Old High German nādala needle, nājan to sew, Latin nēre to spin, Greek nēn
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
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