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
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Noun
That’s an incredibly deep top nine with several guys who truly move the needle at both ends of the ice.—The Athletic Nhl, New York Times, 3 May 2025 Rather than replacing people, this ability to adapt can empower your team to focus on the work that truly moves the needle.—Ellie Perlman, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
Verb
While the night kicked off with Clay Matthews needling the Chicago Bears, the Windy City club still got their man.—Joe Kozlowski, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Apr. 2025 Did Rick have the story wrong this whole time?
LAURIE LETS LOOSE | After learning that Jaclyn slept with Valentin behind her back (and lied about it), Laurie is still fuming as the three ladies head to dinner, guzzling rosé and needling Jaclyn with passive-aggressive digs.—Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 30 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for needle
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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