I. nee ‧ dle 1 /ˈniːdl/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: nædl ]
1 . SEWING
a) a small thin piece of steel, with a point at one end and a hole in the other, used for sewing ⇨ pin :
a needle and thread
a tapestry needle
b) a ↑ knitting needle
2 . DRUGS a very thin, pointed steel tube at the end of a ↑ syringe , which is pushed into your skin to put a drug or medicine into your body or to take out blood:
She carried hypodermic needles and syringes in her bag.
Drug users are at risk when they share needles.
3 . POINTER a long thin piece of metal on a scientific instrument that moves backwards and forwards and points to numbers or directions:
a compass needle
4 . MEDICAL TREATMENT a long, very thin piece of metal used in ↑ acupuncture (=a kind of medical treatment originally used in China)
5 . LEAF a small needle-shaped leaf, especially from a ↑ pine tree:
pine needles
6 . RECORDS the very small, pointed part in a ↑ record player that touches the record in order to play it
7 . like looking for a needle in a haystack informal used to say that something is almost impossible to find:
Finding out which file you want can be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
⇨ ↑ pins and needles
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ thread a needle
Eleanor threaded the needle.
▪ use a needle
I don't think he even knows how to use a needle!
■ phrases
▪ a needle and thread
I got a needle and thread and sewed the button back on.
▪ the eye of a needle (=the hole at the top of the needle that the thread goes through)
This gadget helps you put the thread through the eye of the needle.
II. needle 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive] informal
to deliberately annoy someone by making unkind remarks or jokes about them SYN rib , tease :
I just said that to Charlie to needle him.