needle
noun
\
Definition of needle
(Entry 1 of 2)
needle
verb
, ˈnē-dᵊl-iŋ \
Definition of needle (Entry 2 of 2)
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Other Words from needle
Noun
\
adjective
Verb
, ˈnē-dᵊl-ər \
noun
Synonyms for needle
Synonyms: Noun
hype [slang], hypodermic, hypodermic needle, hypodermic syringe, syringe
Synonyms: Verb
bait, hassle, haze, heckle, ride, taunt, tease
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Examples of needle in a Sentence
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
Google clearly wants to develop Wear OS into a strong competitor to the Apple Watch, but without new hardware that’s smaller, faster, and more fashionable, Tiles aren’t going to move the needle too much. — Michael Simon, PCWorld, "Google's Wear OS gets glancy with swipeable Tiles for news, weather, timers, and more," 1 May 2019 Now, in honor of Earth Day, two more fashion entities are moving the needle further, this time with furniture. — Brooke Bobb, Vogue, "These Chairs Were Designed Using Recycled Clothing From Maison Margiela, Off-White, Raf Simons, and More," 22 Apr. 2019 Over by the racks of clothes, fashion fixers with needles in hand made last-minute adjustments to the jeweled harnesses in the collection. — Laura Regensdorf, Vogue, "These Marbleized Lips at Eckhaus Latta Are About to Become an Art-Punk Beauty Obsession," 8 Sep. 2018 His office had open bottles with needles in them and allowed for cross-contamination of blood products. — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "More than 200 doctors stay on Medicare rolls despite disciplinary actions," 17 May 2018 On Sunday, Miller posted a selfie to Instagram of her wearing a hospital gown with an IV needle in her hand. — Molly Horan, SELF, "Abby Lee Miller Posts a Selfie From Her Hospital Bed After Cancer Diagnosis," 23 Apr. 2018 Morales hopes more scenes like this help move the needle forward. — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, "On Abby’s, Natalie Morales Plays a Bar Owner Who Just Happens to Be Bisexual—and That’s the Point," 28 Mar. 2019 But in Orange County, California, government officials forced the only needle exchange to close. — German Lopez, Vox, "The simple idea that could help end America’s opioid epidemic," 26 Dec. 2018 All said and done, this opportunity didn’t move the needle for us. — Taylor Martin, House Beautiful, "What I Learned About Living In A Tiny House," 7 Nov. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Sometimes wrinkles correspond to acupuncture points on the face, which can be needled for their location and not necessarily for their function, DiLibero explains. — Roxanne Adamiyatt, Town & Country, "What Exactly Is Facial Acupuncture — And Why You Should Try It," 6 Feb. 2019 Kemp needled Cagle over the surreptitious recording that surfaced last month. — Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, "Trump scores on his own goal," 16 July 2018 While Tehran often needles its rivals with harsh rhetoric, Iran’s leaders had been muted in responding to Mr. Khashoggi’s killing, stepping back as international pressure on Saudi Arabia rose sharply. — Asa Fitch, WSJ, "Iran Slams Saudis Over Dissident Killing, Suggests U.S. Ties Were Key," 24 Oct. 2018 Those ties are so thick that Uruguay striker Luis Suarez needled Griezmann this week for trying to be Uruguayan. — baltimoresun.com, "What to watch for in today's World Cup quarterfinal matchups," 6 July 2018 But the show also deftly portrayed the old Russia vs. the disruptive and needling new Russia, whose operatives engage in sophisticated hacking and are driven by decade-old grievances against the West. — Michael S. Rosenwald, Washington Post, "Before ‘The Americans’ and ‘Homeland,’ Russian TV spies were simple villains. No more.," 2 May 2018 But the show also deftly portrayed the old Russia vs. the disruptive and needling new Russia, whose operatives engage in sophisticated hacking and are driven by decade-old grievances against the West. — Michael S. Rosenwald, chicagotribune.com, "Before 'The Americans' and 'Homeland,' Russian TV spies were simple villains, but no more," 2 May 2018 At the same time, Mr. Legere embraced social media as a tool to promote himself and needle his adversaries. — David Gelles, New York Times, "‘He’s a Pit Bull’: T-Mobile C.E.O. Is the Colorful Outlier of Wireless," 1 May 2018 Ronaldo has scored a tournament-leading four goals — all of Portugal's goals so far — while silently needling Messi. — Ben Nuckols, chicagotribune.com, "Messi, Argentina under pressure to win against Croatia," 20 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'needle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for needle
needle
noun
English Language Learners Definition of needle
(Entry 1 of 2)
needle
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of needle (Entry 2 of 2)
See the full definition for needle in the English Language Learners Dictionary
needle
noun
\
Kids Definition of needle
(Entry 1 of 2)
needle
verbKids Definition of needle (Entry 2 of 2)
needle
noun
\
Medical Definition of needle
(Entry 1 of 2)
needle
transitive verb
\
Medical Definition of needle (Entry 2 of 2)
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