▪ I. needle, n.
(ˈniːd(ə)l)
Forms: α. 1–2 nǽdl, nédl, (1 naeðl, nethl, netl), 3–6 nedle, 4–5 nedel, (5 -ele), 4–6 nedill, (5 -il, -ille, -yl, -ylle, 6 -yll), 5–6 nedell, nydel, (5 nydle), 6 neidil, neadle; 5–6 needell, 6–7 needel, (6 -il), 6– needle. β. 3–7 neld(e, 4 neelde, 6–9 neeld, 6 neilde, 8 ne(e)ald, 9 nield, nild; 6, 9 neele, 9 neel, neal, nill, nail.
[OE. nǽdl fem. = OFris. nedle, nidle, OS. nâdla, nâthla, MLG. nâtel, OHG. nâdela, nâdla, nâdal (MHG. nâdele, nâdel, G. nadel), ON. nál (for *náþl; Sw. nål, Da. naal), Goth. nêþla:—pre-Teut. *nētlā, f. the root *nē- to sew, which appears in OHG. nâian (G. nähen), MDu. nayen (Du. naaien), and prob. in L. nēre to spin, Gr. νῆσις spinning, νῆµα thread. The ME. metathetic form neld(e has parallels in OFris. nelde, MDu. naelde (Du. naala), OHG. nalda (MHG. nalde): forms representing it are still common in northern and western dialects.]
I. 1. a. An instrument used in sewing, usually a small and slender piece of polished steel having a fine point at one end and at the other a hole or eye (see eye n. 20 a) through which the thread is passed.
naked, or sharp, as a needle: see the adjs. pins and needles: see pin n. 3 d.
| α c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) A 160 Acus, netl. Ibid. P 421 Pictus acu, mið nethle [Ep. naeðlæ, Erf. nedlæ] asiowid. a 1000 Soul & Body 120 ᵹifer hatte se wyrm, þam þe ᵹeaflas beoð nædle scearpran. a 1000 Colloq. Abp. ælfric in Wr.-Wülcker 99/17 Hwanon fiscere ancgel oþþe sceowyrhton æl oþþe seamere nædl? c 1200 Ormin 6341 Wiþþutenn cnif & shæþe & camb & nedle. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 97 A sylvre nedle forth I drogh Out of an aguiler queynt. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 36 Haue a nedle þre cornerid..& þe lippis of þe wounde schal be sowid togideris. 1484 Caxton æsop iii. i, [The shepherd] with a nydle subtylly drewe oute of his foote the thorne. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §142 [Have] thimble, nedle, threde,..leste that thy gurthe breake. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xii. vii. (1886) 182 She sticketh also needels fine In livers, whereby men doo pine. 1653 Walton Angler v. 111 With a needle or pin divide the wing into two. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 430 ¶1 With a Needle and Thread thriftily mending his Stockings. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 85 ¶12 A knot of misses busy at their needles. 1835 Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. xxxvii. 515 Presenting the women with a needle each. 1865 Lubbock Preh. Times xii. 407 For needles they use bones either of birds or fishes. |
| fig. 1678 Yng. Man's Call. 156 This [sin] is..that needle, that too surely draws a thread of divine vengeance after it. 1860 Reade Cloister & H. lxxv, Catherine ran infinite pins and needles of speech into them. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton xx. 279 Sticking another needle in her mental image of that poor monarch. |
| β a 1225 Ancr. R. 152 A sopare, þet ne bereð buten sope & nelden. a 1300 Estorie del Euangelie 358 (Vernon MS.) in Engl. Stud. VIII. 258 Þat mayde won hire bred Wiþ hire nelde and hire þred. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 249 That childe was..prikkede thro alle the body with nalles, neldes, and pynnes. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 225 They made a subtile hoole vnder hit with a nelde. a 1557 M. Basset tr. More's Treat. Passion M.'s Wks. 1365 Yf a man do but with a neldes point pricke them in y⊇ eye. 1575 Gamm. Gurton i. iv. 5 My fayre, longe, strayght neele, that was myne onely treasure! 1600 Fairfax Tasso xx. xcv, For thee fit weapons weare Thy neeld and spindle. 1701 J. White Cy. Man's Conductor 127/2 Neald, Needle. The ea sounded as in yea. 1775 Watson Hist. Halifax Vocab. 543 Neeld, a Needle. 1814 Monthly Mag. XXXVIII. 127 Needle, neel. 1825 Jennings Obs. Dial. W. Eng. 166 Whitechapel nills all sizes. 1848– in many dial. glossaries (usually in form neeld). |
† b. As an object of trifling importance or value; hence, a particle.
Obs.| a 1225 Ancr. R. 400 Alle þeos þingis somed, aȝean mine bode, ne beoð nout wurð a nelde. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 4012 (Kölbing), Þo he þe stede was opon, He ȝaue a nedel of his fon. c 1400 Plowman's Tale in Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 327 Soche willers witte is not worth a nelde. c 1460 Towneley Myst. ii. 123 When all mens corn was fayre in feld Then was myne not worth a neld. Ibid. xiii. 233, I ete not an nedyll Thys moneth and more. |
c. Phr.
to look for, or seek, a needle in a meadow,
haystack,
bottle (truss or bundle) of hay, to attempt an extremely difficult, impossible, or foolish task.
| c 1530 More Answ. Frith Wks. 837/2 To seke out one lyne in all hys bookes wer to go looke a nedle in a medow. 1592 [see bottle n.3 1]. 1690 W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. (1695) Pref., A labour much like that of seeking a needle in a Bottle of Hay. 1711 E. Ward Vulgus Brit. viii. 95 Seeking we may say, A Needle in a Truss of Hay. 1742 Gray Lett. (1900) I. 105 A coach that seem'd to have lost its way, by looking for a needle in a bottle of hay. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxx, But it's ill looking for a needle in a haystack. [1875 Lowell Spenser Prose Wks. 1890 IV. 268 These thin needles of wit buried in unwieldy haystacks of verse.] |
d. needle's eye, denoting a minute opening or space, chiefly in echoes of
Matt. xix. 24, etc.
Direct citations of the
N.T. passages are frequent. The rendering
the eye of a needle goes back to Tindale (1526).
| a 1530 T. Lupset Compendious Treat. Dyenge Well (1534) 35 For as harde a thynge it is to plucke through the smale nedels eie a greatte caboull rope, as to brynge a ryche man in at heuens wycket. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 27 Euerie one of them may..daunce the wilde Morice in a Needles eye. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. v. 17 It is as hard to come, as for a Camell To thred the posterne of a Needles eye. 1622 C. Fitzgeffrey Elisha 46 He had learned also how to make the Camell passe through the needles eye, namely by casting off the bunch on the back. 1668 Davenant Man's the Master i. i, The invisible rogue threaded a lane as narrow as a needle's eye. 1872 Besant & Rice Ready-Money Mortiboy III. xiii. 234 A single-hearted..rich man, for whom the needle's eye is as easy to pass, as for the poorest pauper. 1925 A. Huxley Those Barren Leaves i. i. 11 Those roaring lions at Lady Trunion's..had no hope of passing through the needle's eye. 1929 H. W. Nevinson The English vi. 43 They are well fitted to carry on the traditions of Victorian vulgarity, and to prove yet again that no camel will ever get through the needle's eye. 1940 V. W. Brooks New England xx. 414 People solemnly chewed their food very fine and slowly to be slender enough to pass through the eye of the needle. 1957 F. R. Scott (title) Eye of the needle. |
e. transf. A needlewoman.
rare.
| 1834 Beckford Italy II. 83 Sister Francisca Salesia..is acknowledged to be one of the first needles in Christendom. 1855 Dickens Dorrit ii. xvii, There was no favour in half-a-crown a day to such a needle as herself. |
2. a. A piece of magnetized steel (
orig. a needle in sense 1) used as an indicator of direction (in later use as a part of the
compass), or in connexion with magnetic or electric apparatus such as the telegraph. Also
ellipt. = needle telegraph.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 23 Thai wist nocht quhar thai wer, For thai na nedill had na stane. 1436 Libel Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 191 Men have practised by nedle and by stone Thider-wardes wythine a lytel whylle. 1475 Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 58 Yet the eldist man..seethe to the nedille for to gide the ship to alle costis. 1555 Eden Decades Contents (Arb.) 45 Who fyrst founde the nedle of the compass and the vse thereof. 1625 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. iii. (1635) 66 At Guinea the magneticall needle inclines to the East. 1665 Glanvill Scepsis Sci. xiv. 78 As is the trembling Needle, till it find its beloved North. 1774 M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. 16 They will be less affected by any Inaccuracy in the Bearing by the Needle. 1837 Wheatstone & Cooke in Repert. Pat. Invent. (1839) XI. 9 Whenever the needle does so point upwards and downwards, it denotes that it is quiescent. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 462 After an action at sea, the needles are often found to be useless, until re-magnetized. 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 96 The Needle is specially adapted for railway purposes and for linking together several towns on one wire. |
| fig. 1679 Establ. Test 2, I do not pretend..to meddle with the Needle and Compass of the Publique Bottom. a 1700 Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 335 The Needle turn'd from God, to point at ill. |
b. A small strip of gold or silver of known or standard fineness used with a touchstone in testing the purity of other pieces of those metals.
| 1469 in Archaeol. (1806) XV. 173 That ii gode stones and good nedeles for to touche be alwey ther redie..to make assaie of gold. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Touch-Needles, You will be able to determine..what allay it is of, by the mark of the Needle. 1763 W. Lewis Phil. Comm. Arts 119 Oblong pieces, called needles,..kept in readiness..as standards of comparison. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 766 Assayers make a comparison upon a touch⁓stone, between it and certain needles composed of gold and silver,..which are called Proof Needles. |
c. (See
quots.)
| 1589 Rider Bibl. Schol. 989 A needle, or tongue of a ballance or beame, examen. 1616–61 B. Holyday Persius (1673) 301 The parts of the balance... The Needle (or Tongue) that arises from the middle of the beam [etc.]. 1789 M. Madan tr. Persius (1795) 8 note, The tongue, needle, or beam of a balance. 1856 Orr's Circle Sci., Mech. Phil. 107 A needle is usually fixed to the beam.., which points vertically upwards or downwards when the beam is in a horizontal position. |
d. A slender,
usu. pointed, indicator on a dial or other measuring instrument,
spec. on a speedometer.
| 1928 Kipling Limits & Renewals (1932) 60 She preferred cars to her own feet... Her place was at his left elbow, nose touching his sleeve, until the needle reached fifty. 1937 D. L. Sayers Busman's Honeymoon xiv. 244 He let the needle drop back to twenty-five and they dawdled on through the lanes. 1958 ‘Castle’ & ‘Hailey’ Flight into Danger ii. 31 The altimeter needle on the winking instrument panel steadily registered a climb of five hundred feet a minute. 1962 J. Glenn in Into Orbit 42 The periscope..gives you an horizon-to-horizon view of the earth below so you can check your actual attitude against the needles. 1973 ‘S. Harvester’ Corner of Playground ii. v. 118 He drove faster, watching the needle flick up to a hundred. |
3. a. A pointed instrument used in engraving or etching.
| 1662 Evelyn Chalcogr. (1769) 22 The use both of the point, needle, and etching in aquafortis. 1727–38 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Engraving, The design..is traced through on the copper, with a point or needle. c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Arts II. 32 The principal instruments for etching are needles, oil⁓stone [etc.]. 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 441/2 Etching-points or needles are nearly similar in appearance to sewing-needles, but fixed into handles four or five inches long. |
b. Surg. A long slender pointed instrument used in operations; the sharply pointed end of a hypodermic or other syringe; a pointed electrode used in surgical electrolysis.
| 1727–38 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Cataract, Turning the needle round, they twist the cataract about its point. 1803 Med. Jrnl. X. 566 If the anterior part of the capsula remain,..the needle is retracted from the lens. 1846 F. Brittan tr. Malgaigne's Man. Oper. Surg. 309 A silver or golden needle about three inches long... The oculist holds this needle as a pen. 1895 Arnold & Sons' Catal. Surg. Instr. 267 Syringe, Laryngeal,..with needles for injecting the Larynx hypodermically. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 828 The positive needle should be held in position and the negative needle passed in various directions through the nævoid tissue. |
(
b)
spec. A hypodermic needle used to inject drugs; the use of, or addiction to, injected drugs,
esp. in
phr. on the needle, engaged in, or addicted to, injecting drugs; also
rarely, a morphine-addict; a dose of a drug for injection.
slang (
orig. U.S.).
| 1929 M. A. Gill Underworld Slang (s.v. don't), Don't break the needle, don't use all the dope. 1936 L. Duncan Over Wall i. 21, I saw and became familiar with the hopheads or cokes—the cocaine addicts on the snow; the needles or hypes—morphine users. 1943 N.Y. Times 9 May ii. 5/6 He's got a band that don't need a five o'clock needle like some other bands. 1953 W. Burroughs Junkie (1972) x. 94 ‘You've been hooking that spot so much it's about to get infected,’ he said, pointing to a needle welt. 1955 W. Gaddis Recognitions i. v. 196 I've heard about her... On the needle. A schiz. 1957 C. MacInnes City of Spades ii. iv. 102 He's using all his dope allowance now... You know who put him on the needle and supplied him? 1968 R. Jeffries Traitor's Crime i. 8 ‘When d'you get your fixes?’ asked Elwick. ‘In—in the evenings.’ ‘How much?’ ‘Fifteen bob a needle.’ 1973 Listener 6 Sept. 306/1 Middle Britain thinks..one puff on the joint leads to the needle. |
c. In breech-loading fire-arms, a slender steel pin by the impact of which the cartridge is ignited.
| 1853 Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) I. 727 On pulling the trigger, the interior needle, from which the musquet takes its name, is darted forward..and thus effects the ignition. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 270/1 The spiral spring..forces the needle into the cartridge and fires the piece. |
d. A thin pointed or tapering rod used to secure fine adjustment in closing apertures, as in valves.
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 632/2 In order to regulate the supply of oil [from a needle lubricator], a metallic feed-rod (needle) passes through the tube, and rests upon the shaft to be lubricated. 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 698/1 The gas-regulator can be adjusted to the fiftieth part of an inch, with dead centralisation of the needle. 1927 G. W. C. Kaye High Vacua iv. 52 The needle readily beds itself into its seating, and very little pressure is needed to close the valve completely. 1965 C. M. Van Atta Vacuum Sci. & Engin. viii. 328 The principal feature of the design [of the needle valve] is the slowly tapering needle fitting snugly into a carefully reamed conical seat. |
e. The small pointed jewel or piece of metal, wood, etc., which rests in the groove of a gramophone record when it is being played and communicates the undulations to the pick-up or diaphragm; also, a similar device used to cut the groove;
= stylus 2.
| 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 679/2 The marker..instead of being a stiff needle coming from the centre of the membrane or glass plate, is now a lever. 1930 A. B. Wood Textbk. Sound 438 The vibrations of the diaphragm cause a needle to cut grooves on the surface of a prepared cylinder or disc. 1949 Frayne & Wolfe Elem. Sound Recording xiii. 240 Motion of the needle can be utilized to apply a force to a piezoelectric crystal and thus generate a voltage. 1957 Records & Recording Nov. 20/1 These grooves..must be tracked with absolute accuracy by the pickup needle—nowadays it is more usually called a stylus. 1973 D. Ramsay Deadly Discretion 190 The concerto came to an end. The needle began to click against the ungrooved portion of the record. |
4. a. A knitting or netting pin.
| 1719 D'Urfey Pills (1872) V. 282 She let her Iv'ry Needle fall. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Net, All the tools necessary to it are wooden needles, of which there should be several of different sizes. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 805/1 The method of knitting stockings by wires or needles. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 180/1 In the process of knitting..polished steel needles or wires are used to link threads together into a series of loops. |
b. One of a set of parallel pieces of wire forming part of the mechanism of a stocking-frame or of the Jacquard loom.
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 660 There must be as many endless cords in this frame as needles in the weaving-loom. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 178/2 Each bar or needle is a lever by which certain warp-threads are governed. |
5. a. A metal pin or rod used as a fixing.
| 1837 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 6/1 Long iron needles pass through holes in the strips of saw-plate, and pin them to the ground. |
b. Mining. (See
quot. 1883.)
| 1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 241/2 The charge having been firmly rammed down with clay..the wire or ‘needle’ is withdrawn. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining 173 Needle, a sharp-pointed copper or brass rod with which a small hole is made through the stemming to the cartridge in blasting operations. |
II. 6. a. A pillar or obelisk, usually with fanciful attribution to some historical person.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 211 Iulius his piler þat now pylgryms clepeþ Seynt Petres nedle. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 114 An Hieroglyphicall Obelisk of Theban marble..called Pharos Needle. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 278 There is yet left a kind of Obeliske or Needle. a 1693 Huntingdon in Ray Travels (1693) II. 153 The Franks call them Aguglia's, the English particularly Cleopatra's Needles. 1842 Gwilt Archit. 1009 s.v. Obelisk, Two obelisks, one at Alexandria, vulgarly called Cleopatra's Needle. |
† b. (See
quot. 1617.)
Obs. rare.
| 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 143 Rippen had a most flourishing Monastery, where was the most famous needle of the Archbishop Wilfred. It was a narrow hole, by which the chastity of women was tried. 1650 T. Fuller Pisgah iii. iii. §17. 323 We.. account the threading of Saint Wilffride's needle as a conceit..to have as much gravity and truth therein. |
7. A sharp-pointed mass of rock;
esp. in
pl. as the name of those to the west of the Isle of Wight, or those which form the summits of many Swiss mountains.
| c 1400 Anc. Pet. 9425 (Public Rec. Office), La terre deuaunt les nedeles del Isle de Wight. 1594 Nashe Terrors of Night Wks. (Grosart) III. 263 A fortunate blessed Iland, nere those pinacle rocks called the Needles. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), The Needles, certain Shelves in the Sea, about the Isle of Wight. 1721 New Gen. Atlas 146 On the Platform of the Mountain there is a natural Pyramid, whence it was called a needle. 1775 C. & F. Davy tr. Bourrit's Journ. Glaciers (1776) 67 The chain..is composed of masses of rocks, which terminate in pikes, or spires called the Needles. 1820 M. Starke Trav. Cont. ii. 66 The Mer de Glace ..on its margin rise pyramidical rocks, called Needles. 1852 Mitchell Rev. Bachelor 279 Far behind them..Mont Blanc and the Needles of Chamouni. |
8. A beam or post of wood,
esp. one used as a temporary support for a wall during underpinning.
| 1471 Acc. Bodmin Ch. (Camden) 25 Cariage of neldis for scafelys. 1512–13 Rec. Nottingham (1889) IV. 452 Item for a tree, the hewyng and sawyng in neldes v.s. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1541/1 What prouision of stuffe should be made..of timber,..needels, keies, beetels. 1684 I. Mather Remark. Provid. (1856) 5 b, A violent flash, or rather flame of lightning, which brake and shivered one of the needles of the katted or wooden chimney. 1842 Gwilt Archit. 1008 Needle, an horizontal piece of timber serving as a temporary support to some superincumbent weight. 1867 Guardian 24 Dec. 1383/1 One of the ‘needles’— upright pieces of timber supporting the keystone of the arch—slipped from under. 1889 Whitby Gaz. 5 Apr. 3/7 If a plank had been placed between the needles, the stone could not have fallen upon plaintiff. |
9. a. A common wild plant (
Scandix pecten), also called
Adam's,
beggar's,
shepherd's needle, etc.
| 1793 Trans. Soc. Arts XI. 52 Unaccountably foul with catlock, needles, &c. 1851 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. ii. 348 Weeds are very troublesome, especially the wild oat, buttercup, and ‘needle’. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Needles, a weed, with sharp needle-like seed-pods, which grows among corn. |
b. The name of a fish. (
Cf. needle-fish.)
rare.
| 1589 Rider Bibl. Schol. 1722 Nedelis, a kind of fish, belone. 1603 Owen Pembrokeshire (1892) I. 123 The Erle or needle whose fynes growe forward contrarie to the nature of all fishe. |
c. Some kind of shell.
rare—1.
| 1713 Petiver Aquat. Anim. Amboinæ 3/2 Strombus..Curl girdled Needle. |
10. Chem. and
Min. A crystal or spicule resembling a needle in shape.
| 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 184 Benjamin being very full of volatile Particles.., the Flowers ascend in little Needles very white. 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 215 Pyrites..being broken present a number of shining needles, all radiating, as it were, from a center. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 128 You will obtain a salt under the form of small needles. 1855 Kingsley Glaucus (1878) 87 A twisted wisp of strong flexible flint needles. 1880 Collins in Mineral. Mag. IV. 104 Some of these ‘needles’ [of needle-tin] are extremely fine. |
11. One of the sharp slender leaves of the fir and pine trees.
| 1798 Trans. Soc. Arts XVI. 357 Its needles are longer and darker than those of the famous Weymouth Pine. 1845 Zoologist III. 901 A pine tree..stripped of its leaves, or needles, as the Germans more aptly term them. 1883 Jefferies Nat. near Lond. 159 His golden crest distinctly seen among the dark green needles of the fir. |
12. slang. † a. A sharper.
Obs.| a 1790 Potter New Dict. Cant, Needle, a sharp fellow, a sharper, a cheat. 1821 Egan Life in London 138 (Farmer), Among the needles at the West end of the town. |
b. the needle, a fit of irritation or nervousness. Also (sometimes without
the), anger, bad temper, enmity;
esp. to get the needle, to become angry or upset, to lose one's temper.
| 1874 Hotten Slang Dict. 235 To ‘cop the needle’ is to become vexed or annoyed. 1884 [see bird n. 5 b]. 1887 Punch 30 July 45 It give 'im the needle.. being left in the lurch this way. 1890 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 84/2 It gives a man the needle when he hasn't got a bob, To see his pals come round and wish him joy. Ibid., To get the needle is to feel very nervous and funky. 1900 G. Swift Somerley 83 But when the final gun has gone and you are ‘off’, nervousness, ‘needle’, everything goes. 1923 Daily Mail 1 Aug. 8/2 It may be, of course, that there was too much ‘needle’ (to employ a boxing term which means bad spirit) about this contest. 1929 H. A. Vachell Virgin viii. 141 The silly ass got the needle, 'cos she asked for the ring. 1959 Times 8 June 3/1 Perhaps it was this very lack of needle, this air of unreality in the late evening of Saturday..that failed to see Davies home to a victory. 1967 Time 22 Dec. 48 A needle from [Bob] Hope becomes an emblem instead of a scar. 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard v. 130 He's got the needle with you. You've got to go very careful. |
III. 13. attrib. and
Comb. a. Objective, and
obj. genitive, as
needle-grinder,
needle-grinding,
needle-maker,
needle-making,
needle-monger,
needle-pointer,
needle-polisher,
needle-seller.
| c 1836 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 672/2 A back elevation of a *needle-grinder's wheel. Ibid., The injurious effect of needle grinding upon the health of the individuals. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Esguillier, a *needle-maker. 1723 Lond. Gaz. No. 6134/4 John Lowe,..Needle-maker. c 1836 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 673/1 Measures to be taken by the larger needle-makers themselves. |
| Ibid. 671/1 *Needle-making, old process. 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 343 In England needle-making has become a staple trade. |
| 1837 Wheelwright tr. Aristophanes I. 13 The *needlemonger too with Pamphilus. |
| 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 402 The Sheffield dry-grinders and *needle-pointers. |
| 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 159 Flint-workers, *needle-polishers,..supply the largest contingent of pulmonary diseases. |
| 1848 Hickie tr. Aristophanes (Bohn) II. 692 And will not the *Needle⁓seller [suffer] along with Pamphilus? |
b. Instrumental, as
needle-made,
needle-painted,
needle-run,
needle-scarred,
needle-worked adjs.; also
needle-hole,
needle-puncture,
needle-puncturing.
| 1847 Nat. Encycl. I. 851 A very minute *needle-hole made in the centre of it. |
| 1883 Cassell's Fam. Mag. July 500/2 The lacet point is a *needle-made lace. |
| 1598 Chapman Iliad iii. 386 The *needle-painted lace, with which his helm was tied Beneath his chin. 1910 Westm. Gaz. 2 Feb. 5/4 An exhibition of needle-painted wild flowers of South Africa was opened yesterday. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 847 Cancerous deposits may form at the sites of the *needle punctures. |
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) III. 268 Advantage has sometimes been derived from *needle-puncturing. |
| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 31 May 3/3 The mingling of *needle-run..lace and broad white satin ribbon. |
| 1854 G. J. Whyte-Melville Gen. Bounce ix, Holding up her *needle-scarred hands to the bystanders. |
| 1856 Dickens in Househ. Words XXXIV. 130/2 Of rich oak carvings and quaint *needleworked tapestry there was none. |
c. Similative, as
needle-form,
needle-formed,
needle-like,
needle-nosed,
needle-shaped,
needle-sharp,
needle-tailed adjs.; also
needle-foliage,
needle-leaf,
needle-rock,
needle-spire.
| 1898 Cath. Phillimore Dante at Ravenna 152 Through their *needle foliage passes a sweet murmur. |
| 1807 T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 623 It may, however, be obtained in small *needleform crystals. |
| Ibid. 289 Some of them lance-shaped, others *needle-formed. |
| 1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain ii. xxii. (1879) 600 The dark path, bestrewn with brown slippery *needle-leaves. |
| 1672 J. Josselyn New Eng. Rarities 7 They feed upon Honey, which they suck out of Blossoms..with their *Needle-like Bills. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XI. 440/2 The smoothness and needle-like figure of the particles. 1847–9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. IV. 66/2 In the shape of simple needle-like crystals. |
| 1955 Sci. News Let. 26 Mar. 196/2 An eight-foot-tall, *needle-nosed rocket. 1973 Times 4 June 1/3 The crash came at the end of the last of three passes the needle-nosed plane made to show off its qualities. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 495 In California many of the *needle rocks are of volcanic origin. |
| 1786 Aiken tr. Beaumé's Man. Chem. 94 The liquor..furnishes *needle-shaped crystals. 1863 A. C. Ramsay Phys. Geog. 22 Needle-shaped masses of rocks. |
| 1923 J. Galsworthy Captures 161 That fellow was *needle-sharp, though not always correct in his conclusions. 1973 Times 5 Oct. (Safety Suppl.) p. i/3 Everything depends on needle-sharp reflexes. |
| 1864 Daily Tel. 23 Sept., Its tall brick cathedral, with the two *needle-spires. |
| 1801 Latham Syn. Birds Suppl. II. 259 *Needle-tailed Sw[allow]. |
d. Attributive, as
needle-factory,
needle-hand,
needle-housewifery,
needle-job,
needle-toil,
needle-trade,
needle-wire.
| 1747 in Chester Misc. (1750) 247 Jacintha employ'd in Needle-housewifry. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Thoughts on Bks., The milliner..after her long day's needle-toil. 1836 Going to Service xi. 122 Several little needle jobs. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 879 The first operation..of the needle factory. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6449 The early history of the needle-trade. Ibid., The distance between the two eyes in each needle-wire. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 14 Cases of break-down in the needle-hand of tailors and seamstresses. |
14. Special combs., as
needle-alphabet (
nonce-wd.), one in which stitches are substituted for letters according to a pre-arranged code;
needle-and-pin, rhyming slang for
gin n.2;
needle-and-thread, rhyming slang for ‘bread’;
needle-bath, a form of shower-bath with a very fine and strong spray;
needle-beam, a transverse beam in the flooring of a bridge (Knight, 1875);
needle bearing, a bearing using needle rollers;
needle beer U.S. slang (see
quot. 1928);
needle board (see
quots.);
needle-bolt, the bolt which carries the needle in a needle-gun;
needle-book, a needle-case resembling a small book;
needle-bug (see
quot.);
needle-bush Austral., (
a) either of two shrubs or small trees of the genus
Hakea,
H. leucoptera or
H. vittata, of the family Proteaceæ; (
b) the nealie or nelia,
Acacia rigens, of the family Leguminosæ;
needle-cast, a fungus disease of conifers, causing the leaves to go brown and drop off;
needle-chervil = needle 9 a;
needle contest = needle match;
needlecord, a finely ribbed cut-pile fabric;
needle-craft, the art of using the needle for sewing or embroidering;
needle-dial, a dial bearing a needle in an electrical apparatus;
needle-felt,
needlefelt = needle-loom (b);
needle fight = needle match;
needle-file [
cf. G.
nadelfeil], a fine round file used by jewellers (Knight, 1875);
† needle-fodder, a needle-case;
needle-furze or
-gorse,
Genista anglica;
needle game = needle match;
needle gap Electr., a pair of needle-shaped electrodes placed in line, between which an electric discharge can take place when the potential difference between them exceeds a value dependent on the size of the gap;
needle gate, a dam or sluice consisting of several thin spars which are placed vertically one after the other into a frame;
needle-girder (
cf. needle-beam above);
needle-grass, a species of grass (
Aristida oligantha), common in the south-western
U.S.;
needle greenweed = needle-furze;
† needle-house [
cf. Da. naalehus,
Sw. nålhus], a needle-case;
needle ice, ice formed into thin needle-like crystals just beneath the soil surface and often pushing up through it;
needle iron-ore or
iron-stone, a variety of hydrate of iron;
needle-jerker, (
slang) a tailor;
needle-lace, lace made with the needle, as opposed to bobbin-lace;
needle-loom,
needleloom, (
a) (see
quot. a 1877); also
attrib.; (
b) carpeting made of felt attached to a base of rubber, hessian, or other material;
needle lubricator,
oiler, a form of lubricator in which the supply of lubricant is controlled by a needle fitted in the supply tube and resting on the shaft to be lubricated;
needle manganese (see
quot.);
needle mark, a mark made by a hypodermic injection;
needle match, a match or contest that arouses much interest and excitement; a crucial or keenly fought match; a contest in which the contestants have a grudge against each other; a dispute;
needle-musket, one fired by means of a needle;
needle-ore (see
quots.);
needle paper, a stout black paper
orig. used for wrapping up needles;
needle-rifle (
cf. needle-musket);
needle roller, a roller in the form of a long, thin, sometimes tapered cylinder, used in roller bearings;
freq. attrib.;
needle scar, a scar made by a hypodermic injection;
† needle-screw, ? a very fine screw;
needle-shell (see
quots.);
needle shower,
spray, a shower-bath of strong fine jets of water; also
fig.;
† needle-shuttle, a shuttle resembling a large needle;
† needle-spar, aragonite;
needle-spitter (
nonce-wd.), one who uses sharp language;
needle-syringe, a sharp-pointed hypodermic syringe;
needle-telegraph, a telegraph in which the needle is employed as an indicator;
needle-threader, a device for threading needles;
needle-timber,
-tin (see
quots.);
needle time, an agreed time during which gramophone records are allowed to be broadcast;
needle track = needle mark;
needle-tree, a tree bearing needles, as the pine or fir;
needle-urchin (see
quot.);
needle valve, a valve which works by means of a narrow pointed rod fitting into a conical seating and is operated either automatically or by a screw;
needle-weaving (see
quots.);
needle-weed = needle 9 a;
needle-whin,
= needle-furze;
needle-wood = needle-bush (
a) ; also
attrib.;
needle-worm [G.
nadelwurm,
Du. naaldworm], a small worm parasitic in horses;
needle zeolite, natrolite.
Also in a number of other technical combs., as
needle-bar,
needle-forceps,
needle-loom,
needle-valve;
needle-bearer,
needle-holder, etc. (see Knight
Dict. Mech.).
| 1655 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Invent. Index, *A Needle⁓alphabet. |
| 1937 Partridge Dict. Slang 555/2 *Needle and pin, gin. 1973 J. Leasor Host of Extras vi. 118 You owe him some needle and pin—gin. |
| 1859 Hotten Dict. Slang 144 *Needle and thread, bread. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 80/1 Needle and thread, bread. |
| 1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 11 June 1291/2 There are reclining baths;..*needle-baths; local baths; and special baths. |
| 1930 Automotive Industries LXIII. 869/1 The *needle bearing offers particular advantages for certain applications in high speed engines, as on crankpins. 1946 L. E. O. Charlton R. Air Force July 1943 to Sept. 1944 154 (caption) Bomber Command launched an attack on a needle-bearing factory..in France. 1972 R. C. Gunther Lubrication xiii. 408 Needle bearings are suited for slow speeds, or for oscillating and intermittent motion which permits the rollers to return to their required position upon load relief. |
| 1928 Flynn's 14 Apr. 29/2 On the same spot you can get your *needle beer—near beer shot with alki or ether. 1936 J. Dos Passos Big Money 81 He..had a session with the helpwanted columns over some glasses of needle beer. |
| 1879 T. R. Ashenhurst Pract. Treat. Weaving & Designing Textile Fabrics 63 The pressure thus bestowed upon the crosswires keeps them in position through the *needle-board. 1889 Cent. Dict., Needle-board, in the Jacquard loom, a perforated board or plate through which the points of the needles presented to the cards pass, and the perforations of which act as guides for the needles when the latter are actuated by the cards. The needle-board holds all the needles in proper relation with the prism or cylinder to which the cards are attached, and with the perforations in the cards. 1961 Webster, Needle board, a board covered with very short fine wires that is used for pressing pile fabrics. |
| 1868 Rep. Govt. U.S. Munitions War 24 The catch h is drawn down sufficiently to allow the *needle-bolt shoulder a to pass over it. |
| 1693 Lond. Gaz. No. 2905/4 A little Silk Bag, with a *Needle-Book and a little Key in it. 1858 Mrs. Gatty Aunt Judy's Tales (1859) 75 The needle-book that he'd bought for me in his hand. |
| 1896 Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. VI. 191 Limnobates stagnorum..is remarkable for its elongated slender body, whence its name of *needle bug or water gnat. |
| 1889 J. H. Maiden Usef. Native Pl. 34 Hakea leucoptera,..‘*Needle-bush’, ‘Pin-bush’. Ibid. 314 Acacia rigens,..‘Nealie’, or ‘Needle Bush’. 1909 A. E. Mack Bush Calendar 4 All through the bush the needlebush showed white blossoms amongst its spiky leaves. 1944 Living off Land iii. 47 One of the main water supplies of the aborigines came from tree roots, principally those of the mallee, the needle-bush. Ibid. 48 The needlebush, a dark green shrub with sharp-pointed needles in place of leaves. 1965 Austral. Encycl. VI. 266/2 Needlewood or Needlebush, popular names for Hakea leucoptera and H. vittata, dry-country shrubs or small trees possessing rigid acicular leaves. Ibid., The so-called ‘nealie’, Acacia rigens, is sometimes referred to as needle-bush, because of its long terete phyllodes. |
| 1895 W. R. Fisher Schlich's Man. Forestry IV. 408 This sudden shedding of pine needles is the characteristic of the disease so widely spread in Germany, and termed Schütte, or *needle-cast. 1964 W. E. Hiley Forestry Venture iv. 81 We are inclined to associate the trouble with a needle-cast fungus (Phaeocryptopus gaumannii). |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens 615 This herbe is called..in Englishe, Shepheardes Needel, wilde Cheruel, and *Needel Cheruill. |
| 1922 Daily Mail 22 Nov. 11 There is also a ‘*needle’ contest, recently arranged, between two stable-lads. 1963 Times 15 Jan. 9/4 And then what about that ‘needle’ contest, the University match? |
| 1959 Manch. Guardian 26 June 5/3 A *needlecord in a dove-like grey was excellent for slacks or jackets. 1973 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Starry Bird xvi. 236 Charles had on a needlecord shirt with a flower pattern. |
| 1382 Wyclif Ex. xxxix. 28 The girdil forsothe of bijs foldun aȝen, iacynct, purpur and reed clooth, twynned with *nedle craft. 1846 B. Barton Select. (1849) 41 A piece of sempstress⁓ship or needle-craft, forming the forepart of a waistcoat. |
| 1868 Rep. Govt. U.S. Munitions War 241 A short circuit is thus made with a *needle-dial. |
| 1957 Textile Terms & Definitions (Textile Inst.) (ed. 3) 67 *Needle felt, felt produced by the needleloom process. |
| 1927 Daily News 25 May 8/1 England's native champion..went down in a *needle fight with Samuel Robinson, an experienced golfer. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 21/2 In soccer there is a word for a tense match, it is called a needle game and this one fitted into that category. |
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. iii. 20 Combys, and ribanes,..and oynement boxes [altered from *nedle foddris]. 1650–1738 *Needle Furze [see furze 2]. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxv. (1794) 352 Needle Furze or Petty-Whin, which you will find wild on heaths. |
| 1916 C. C. Garrard Electr. Switch & Controlling Gear viii. 563 One source of uncertainty can be removed if needles are used for the measuring gap, in which case the result obtained is termed the ‘equivalent *needle gap’. 1927 Ibid. (ed. 3) viii. 641 Let us assume that this [line] is protected by a needle gap with a breakdown voltage..of 66,000 volts. 1962 Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 701/2 Needle gaps have been used for measuring voltages of a few kilovolts as they have larger, and therefore more convenient, spacings than sphere gaps at these low voltages. |
| 1909 H. M. Wilson Irrigation Engin. (ed. 6) 230 Simple flash-board or *needle gates should be used only where the pressure upon them is low. |
| 1898 Daily News 18 Nov. 2/1 ‘*Needle’ girders were then ‘threaded’ crosswise over the main girders. |
| 1893 Turner in Annals Andersonian Nat. Soc. 2 On the drier banks..the *needlegorse (Genista anglica) is not quite unknown. |
| 1885 H. C. McCook Tenants Old Farm 341 A sort of grass known as ant-rice, or *needle-grass. |
| 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 625 Genista anglica, *Needle Greenweed. |
| c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 659 Hec acuaria, *nedylhows. 1483 Cath. Angl. 250/2 A Nedylle howse, acuarium. 1547 Salesbury Welsh Dict., Nildws, a nedle ouse. |
| 1918 Engineering-News Record 7 Feb. 262/2 The ice columns, or ‘*needle ice’, formed on bare clayey soils are familiar to most people living in regions where the nights are cold enough for heavy frosts. 1939 H. H. Bennett Soil Conservation xii. 284 Where there is sufficient soil moisture, a freeze will produce layers of needle ice, or spew frost, which will lift the overlying soil and vegetation as much as several inches. 1968 R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 381 Such ‘needle ice’ is sometimes called pipkrake. |
| 1885 A. Ramsay Min. (ed. 3) 178 *Needle-iron Ore; Onegite; Ferric Monohydrate. |
| 1807 Sporting Mag. XVII. 19 His galligaskins have been made by the same *needle-jerker. |
| 1891 Daily News 13 Nov. 5/5 There is Irish lace of all kinds, and some of the *needle lace is really exquisite. |
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. II. 1519/1 *Needle-loom, one in which the weft is carried by a needle instead of a shuttle. The usual form of loom for narrow wares, such as ribbons, tapes, bindings, etc. 1956 Good Housek. Home Encycl. (ed. 4) 92/2 Needleloom carpetings have a rubber or plastic back. 1957 Textile Terms & Definitions (Textile Inst.) (ed. 3) 68 The needleloom process is essentially a method of attaching a lap or batt..of loose fibrous material to a base, e.g. fabric, paper, rubber and/or plastic materials. 1957 Observer 20 Oct. 10/2 Almost all the new tufted carpets (which have, to a large extent, superseded the rubber-backed felt called needleloom) are made almost entirely of rayon. 1969 A. J. Hall Stand. Handbk. Textiles (ed. 7) iii. 161 For the manufacture of needle⁓loom carpets a machine is used which comprises rows of vertical needles. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 632/2 *Needle lubricator. 1887 D. A. Low Introd. Machine Drawing & Design vii. 32 In the block illustrated the journal is lubricated by a needle lubricator. |
| 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 26 The binoxide of manganese which is used is of the form known as *needle manganese. |
| 1949 N. Marsh Swing, Brother, Swing ix. 206 He hasn't been long on the injection method... Curtis had a look for needle⁓marks and didn't find many. 1971 ‘D. Shannon’ Murder with Love (1972) iv. 69, I doubt very much whether he's really hooked... No needle marks on him. |
| 1923 Daily Mail 16 Jan. 9 There will be a ‘*needle’ match in Sheffield if Barnsley beat Swindon and visit the Wednesday. 1952 L. A. G. Strong Darling Tom xvii. 136 (headline) Needle match. Family quarrel will be fought out at Olympia. 1962 Listener 1 Nov. 732/3 More enjoyable was an off-beat needle match between Hans Keller, who held that Gershwin was a neglected genius, and Deryck Cooke, who didn't. 1965 D. Francis For Kicks iii. 41, I..watched Paddy and one of Granger's lads engage in a needle match of dominoes. |
| 1898 Edin. Rev. Apr. 350 The so-called *needle⁓musket of the Prussians. |
| 1810 Nicholson's Jrnl. XXVII. 236 The *Needle-ore has been considered..an auriferous ore of Nickel. 1836 T. Thomson Min., Geol., etc. I. 596 Needle ore of Bismuth..was first described and analyzed by Karsten and John. 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) III. 412 Needle-ore or Aciculite. A native sulphide of bismuth, copper, and lead, in acicular crystals, found in Siberia. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 3 Apr. 14/2 If *needle-paper of the required kind is not available a very excellent substitute can be prepared by placing good stout paper in a solution of gelatine and glycerine to which has been added some good strong black colouring. 1973 Sci. Amer. May 118/1 Black needle paper and white typewriter bond differ by about a factor of 15 in reflectance all across the spectrum. |
| 1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 259/2 The Prussians, meanwhile, had armed their troops with the *needle-rifle. |
| 1935 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXIX. 470 The crankshaft was mounted on roller bearings, and the connecting rod big ends were mounted on *needle rollers in split housings. 1951 Engineering 26 Oct. 533/1 An open propeller shaft provided with Hardy Spicer needle-roller joints transmits the drive to the rear axle. 1959 R. R. Slaymaker Mech. Design & Analysis ii. xv. 299 Loose needle rollers are now universally used throughout the automotive industry to serve as bearings in planetary gear systems. 1974 ‘A. Haig’ Peruvian Printout 37 A rubber-wheeled trolley which glided on needle roller bearings. |
| 1962 K. Orvis Damned & Destroyed vii. 52, I made a mental note of the *needle⁓scar item. |
| 1655 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. (1663) §81 The head being opened with a *Needle-scrue drawing a Spring towards them. |
| 1752 Hill Hist. Anim. 134 The slender Turbo, with ventricose spires, and a small rounded mouth. The *Needle-shell. 1863 J. G. Wood Nat. Hist. III. 380 The Spotted Needle⁓shell, or Spotted Auger, derives its name from the long and sharply pointed form of the shell. |
| 1935 A. J. Cronin Stars look Down i. xix. 183 After that a *needle shower and a hard rub down. 1973 ‘H. Howard’ Highway to Murder iii. 34 Ten minutes under a needle-shower washed the clammy heat out of me. 1974 E. McGirr Murderous Journey 6, I..shivered under a cold needle shower. |
| 1699 L. Wafer Voy. 86 The Men make Arrow-Heads of this Wood; the Women *Needle-Shuttles to weave their Cotton. |
| 1967 Freedomways VII. 153 A scattered *needle-spray of unrelated, often ephemeral, facts and events which confuse the readers more than they inform them. 1970 H. McLeave Question of Negligence (1973) vii. 54 In the shower room he..focussed the needle spray on his head and body. |
| 1836 T. Thomson Min., Geol., etc. I. 117 Arragonite, igloite, flos ferri, *needle spar. |
| 1805 Sporting Mag. XXV. 315 My landlady—a perfect *needle-spitter. |
| 1894 Daily News 15 Jan. 3/2 This is inserted beneath the skin of the stomach by means of a small *needle-syringe. |
| 1849 Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 375 The telegraph here patented they call their *needle telegraph. 1860 G. B. Prescott Electr. Telegr. 100 The essential part of the needle telegraph is the multiplier. |
| 1889 Cent. Dict., *Needle⁓threader, a device for passing a thread through the eye of a needle. 1964 McCall's Sewing v. 66/1 If you have an eyesight problem, or just find threading needles a chore, use a needle threader. |
| 1802–3 tr. Pallas's Trav. (1812) I. 36 *Needle-timber, that is, resinous-trees, or such as have acuminated leaves. |
| 1962 Sunday Express 30 Dec. 1/6 ‘*Needle time’—the number of hours given to records. 1970 B.B.C. Handbk. 223 An agreement with Phonographic Performance Ltd. provides for the right to broadcast commercial gramophone records ‘live’, the B.B.C.'s various radio and television services being allocated fixed periods of ‘needle time’ in return for an annual lump sum payment. |
| 1880 J. H. Collins in Mineral. Mag. (1882) IV. 7 F. Becke regards Wood Tin as an extreme form of the well known acicular crystals sometimes spoken of as ‘*Needle Tin’. |
| 1959 A. K. Lang in H. Q. Masur Murder Most Foul (1973) 69 The kid had been a user; they'd know that from the gear in her purse and the *needle-tracks in her arm. 1973 J. Martin 95 File 80 He checked her arms but found no needle tracks. |
| 1849 Otté tr. Humboldt's Cosmos II. 455 In the *needle-tree we have the greatest contraction of the leaf vessels. 1868 G. Stephens Runic Mon. I. 209 The stuff could scarcely be of birch, or of any other leaf-tree, but rather of a needle-tree. |
| 1713 Petiver Aq. Anim. Amb. 1/2 Echinus setosus..*Needle-Urchin. |
| 1903 Sci. Amer. Suppl. 24 Jan. 59/2 The inventor's idea, in designing the vaporizer, was to do away with the *needle-valve usually employed for controlling the flow of gasoline. 1925 N. E. Odell in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest 1924 362 The pressure gauge was connected close to the mouths of the cylinders on the back [of the breathing apparatus], and the rate of flow regulated by a needle⁓valve close beside it. 1971 Sci. Amer. Sept. 222/3 All gases are admitted through needle valves to a manifold that connects to the laser. |
| 1932 D. C. Minter Mod. Needlecraft 16/1 *Needleweaving is a form of embroidery worked on the threads of the material when the threads in the opposite direction (i.e. either the warp or the weft) have been withdrawn. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage ii. 48 Needleweaving. This is a variation of drawn thread work which could be used effectively on accessories such as handbags and belts. |
| 1787 W. Marshall Norf. (1795) Gloss., *Needleweed, Scandix pecten Veneris, shepherd's needle. |
| 1890 Daily News 8 Sept. 3/1 Though there is plenty of *needle-whin in places, its green spines are too tender to goad the hides of horses much. |
| 1911 C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling xv. 141 The pretty grey *needle-wood. 1936 F. Clune Roaming round Darling xxv. 286 Plenty of mulga, needlewood, belah, budda, and broad leaf-box. 1941 I. L. Idriess Great Boomerang i. 1 Upon a needlewood-tree a crow waited. Ibid. iii. 22 It [sc. the gold] lay by a needlewood bush. 1959 A. Upfield Bony & Black Virgin xiii. 111 He sat in the shade of the needlewood tree, or rather its trunk, for the narrow leaves give but scant shelter. |
| 1766 Compl. Farmer, Ascarides, small worms common in horses, resembling needles... They are often called *needle⁓worms by the farriers. 1831 Youatt Horse 210 A smaller, darker coloured worm, called the needle worm or ascaris, inhabits the large intestines. |
| 1805 S. Weston Werneria 95 Scapolite is not solvable in nitric acid,..in..which it differs from the *needle-zeolite. 1836 T. Thomson Min., Geol., etc. I. 314 Thomsonite.., needle zeolite of Werner in part. |
[II.] [12.] Senses 12 a, b in
Dict. become 12 b, c. Add:
a. The penis.
coarse slang (now only
Hist.).
| 1638 Nabbes Covent Garden i. vi. 14 Let my needle run in your Diall. 1707 Misc. Wks. Rochester & Roscommon i. 130 The Seamans Needle nimbly points the Pole But thine still turns to every craving Hole. 1720 T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth VI. 92, I straightway whip my Needle out. 1980 E. Jong Fanny ii. i. 165 ‘Won't ye have a Nestlecock?’ cries the second Tart, ‘..a Needlewoman fer yer e'er-loving Needle?’ |
c. to give (put in, etc.) the needle: to provoke or annoy,
esp. by criticism, teasing, or sarcasm.
| 1962 Listener 20 Sept. 450/2 Spokesmen for the builders and the mortgage societies, who were given..what I can only describe as a dose of the old needle. 1963 Wall St. Jrnl. 25 Jan., It's much easier to take the needle from this crowd. They're guys who like Scotch, American jazz and most of us. 1980 T. Wolfe Right Stuff (1981) vii. 147 Al..was not the type to let Glenn get away with it... Al kept putting the needle in. |
d. Sport. Competitive spirit, antagonism provoked by rivalry. Also, a stimulus or spur to improve one's performance.
Cf. needle match below.
| 1923 Daily Mail 1 Aug. 8/2 It may be, of course, that there was too much ‘needle’ (to employ a boxing term which means bad spirit) about this contest. 1959 Times 8 June 3/1 Perhaps it was this very lack of needle, this air of unreality in the late evening of Saturday..that failed to see Davies home to a victory. 1970 Times 16 Mar. 8 Without the constant needle of improving competition, the men at the top will find it difficult to improve any further. 1983 J. Hennessy Torvill & Dean 26 There was some friendly needle between the two couples because of their equality of performance in previous championships. 1987 Squash Player Internat. Mar. 6/1 That she was seeded 2 to Liz Irving's 1 was the sort of needle she needed. |
▪ II. needle, v. (
ˈniːd(ə)l)
[f. the n. Cf. G. nadeln, nädeln, to sew or fix with needles.] 1. trans. a. To sew or pierce with (or as with) a needle. Also with
up.
| a 1715 Burnet Own Time ii. (1724) I. 270 Coventry had his nose so well needled up, that the scar was scarce to be discerned. 1827 H. Coleridge in Blackw. Mag. XXII. 43 She who gives her tawny skin to be needled and flowered as if it were an insensible garment. 1835 Hogg in Fraser's Mag. XI. 359 The pangs of terror now needled his soul. 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 483 The youngest had both lenses needled at the close of the year. |
b. slang. (See
quot. 1812.) Also in recent use, to annoy or irritate; also, to goad; to provoke into anger.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., To needle a person is to haggle with him in making a bargain, and if possible take advantage of him. 1881 G. R. Sims Dagonet Ballads 77 There, he's off! the young warmint, he's needled; whenever I talks about work He puts on his cap and he hooks it. 1898 G. B. Shaw Our Theatres in Nineties (1932) III. 358 Old Indian women get ‘fairly needled’ at the spectacle of their houses and crops being burnt. 1941 Time 7 Apr. 22/3 Some 20 Manhattan reporters gave the Ambassador a going-over for 50 minutes... He did not let it appear that he knew he was being needled. 1958 J. Wain Contenders 154 It was that bit about forgetting his business worries that needled Ned. 1959 M. Pugh Chancer 177 He was needling me, needling me this night, and I wouldn't provoke. 1972 D. Haston In High Places ii. 36 Once again we'd needled each other into a state of open warfare. |
c. To penetrate; to pierce or thread (one's way); to pass (a thing) through like a needle; to underpin with needle-beams, etc.
| c 1820 Hogg Connel of Dee xxxiii, He rainbowed the hawthorn, He needled the brake. 1866 Herschel Fam. Lect. Sci. 159 The particles of one species of gas or vapor struggle to interpenetrate or needle, as it were, their way among those of every other. 1877 G. Fraser Wigtown 231 (E.D.D.), He used adroitly to needle a stick backwards and forwards between his legs. 1901 J. Black's Carp. & Build., Scaffolding 52 The walls..may be needled under the superimposed brickwork. |
2. intr. a. To form acicular crystals.
b. To pass through, or in and out, like a needle.
c. To use the needle, to sew.
| 1828–32 Webster, Needle, to shoot in crystalization into the form of needles. 1835 D. Webster Rhymes 24 (E.D.D.), Sae nimbly, They needled grumphy's legs between. 1861 Thackeray Four Georges iii. (1862) 161 Groups of women in..tight bodies and full skirts, needling away. |
3. U.S. slang. (See
quots.) Also
ˈneedled ppl. a. (
cf. needle beer,
needle n. 14).
| 1929 Amer. Speech IV. 387 Many Kansans..buy the ordinary non-alcoholic near-beer, and add a little alcohol to each bottle. The resulting mixture is called..needled beer. 1929 Hostetter & Beesley It's a Racket! 233 Needle, to inject alcohol or ether into any liquid, such as beer, to make it stimulating. 1930 Amer. Mercury Dec. 456/2 Needle, to make near-beer intoxicating by injecting ether or alcohol. ‘This beer knocks you for a loop. It's needled with ether.’ 1931 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) iv. 79 It is sleeping so sound that I am commencing to figure that Butch must give it some of the needled beer he is feeding us. |
Add:
[1.] d. Surg. To treat by the use of a needle or needles;
spec. to use acupuncture on or cannulate.
| 1936 [implied in *needling vbl. n. 2 d]. 1971 F. Mann Acupuncture (ed. 2) ii. 30 In one form of acupuncture the points spontaneously tender or those tender under pressure are needled. Ibid. iii. 43, I needled her once a month, halfway between the periods. 1982 N.Y. Times Mag. 28 Feb. 48 (caption) Emily Pinion was ‘needled’ in the womb to relieve fluid building up in the chest that had prevented her lungs from developing. 1987 A. Campbell Acupuncture ii. 17 The acupuncture was fairly elementary, and for the most part consisted simply in needling the painful area. |
[2.] d. To prick as with a needle; of driving rain, etc.: to cause a pricking sensation,
esp. upon the skin. Also with
at,
into.
| 1929 W. Faulkner Sound & Fury 330 A moving wall of grey light..seemed to disintegrate into minute and venomous particles..that..needled laterally into her flesh. 1974 R. B. Parker God save Child (1975) iii. 22 The rain..needled at my face as I ran. 1988 Fitness May 46/2 Helpful for getting cellular waste and other toxins on the move, as the jetting bubbles needle away at your body. |