ˌpins and ˈneedles BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
1 . an uncomfortable feeling, often in your foot or your leg, which you get especially when you have not moved part of your body for a long time, and the supply of blood has stopped flowing properly:
I’ll have to move because I’m starting to get pins and needles in my foot.
2 . be on pins and needles American English to be very nervous and unable to relax, especially because you are waiting for something important SYN be on tenterhooks