▪ I. † ˈneedling, n. Obs. rare—1.
[f. need n. + -ling1 1.]
A needy person.
| 1608 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. iii. Schism 467 Sure, a good turn shall never guerdon want; A Gift to Needlings is not given, but lent. |
▪ II. needling, vbl. n.
(ˈniːdlɪŋ)
[f. needle v.]
1. a. (See quot. 1854.) b. The operation of inserting needle-beams; the method of doing this.
| 1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northampt., Needling, a builder's term for perpendicular studding, to part off the acute angle of a roof. c 1880 Architect. Soc. Dict. s.v., One of the most important examples of needling was that performed at Bayeux cathedral. 1901 J. Black's Carp. & Build., Scaffolding 48 Fig. 3..gives needling of bottom shore and strutting to top and second rakers. |
2. a. The action or process of using a needle of any kind; work done with a needle.
| 1878 Sala in Gentl. Mag. May 565 The last [engraving] being at least three parts of machine work to one of free⁓handed needling. |
b. spec. An operation performed on the eye with a surgical needle.
| 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 483 Cataracts..dealt with by needling, suction, and a..capsular operation. |
c. The action of annoying, irritating, or goading (see needle v. 1 b). Also as ppl. a.
| 1941 Sun (Baltimore) 10 Jan. 12/7 The word ‘needling’..is being used more and more frequently in the sense of using sharp bits of persuasion to bring a person to adopt a desired course. 1945 Ibid. 17 Feb. 7/3 P.K.W...was plainly irked by some sharp needling of his group. 1956 W. H. Whyte Organization Man (1957) 246 It was Keefer, with his clever mind, his needling of authority, who led the ordinary people..astray. 1958 Spectator 10 Jan. 33/1 Their needling and often impertinent questions. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Nov. 698/5 She undergoes, still buoyant, the familiar needlings of interrogation. 1962 Listener 7 June 999/1 When the next careful, needling letter arrived from Samuel, the black temper broke loose again. 1971 C. Bonington Annapurna South Face xi. 128 ‘..Anyway, if you want to go out in front on this trip, you'd better prove you can keep going.’ This kind of needling was the ideal treatment for Mick. 1973 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 28 Oct. 2/1 He was the great complainer of his time, and..Victoria became a better place because of his needling. |
Add: [2.] d. Treatment with acupuncture needles; an instance of this.
| 1936 K. C. Wong Hist. Chinese Med. (ed. 2) i. 3 ‘Needling ’ occupied a rather important position in ancient times. It developed into the art of acupuncture. 1971 F. Mann Acupuncture (ed. 2) xii. 201 At one moment on the second day I thought I was going to seize up as I've done before and I thought ‘I must get to Dr. Mann for a needling.’ 1979 Sci. Amer. July 70/2 Electrical rather than mechanical stimulation of the needles is also gaining ground, since it reduces the danger of contamination of the operation field by the acupuncturist and minimizes the tissue damage caused by needling. 1987 Jrnl. Alternative Med. Feb. 7/4 In the study, the needling was carried out by Dr. Jing Hua Chen..with help from some British acupuncturists. |
▪ III. needling, ppl. a. (Formerly at needling vbl. n.)
(ˈniːdlɪŋ)
[f. needle v. + -ing2.]
That needles, in various senses of the vb.; sharply piercing.
| 1947 R. C. M. Howard in Penguin New Writing XXX. 124 We dreamed of the plunge and the rise and the endless wind and the rime Of the needling frost that ate its way into eyes and ears and brain. 1958 Spectator 10 Jan. 33/1 Their needling and often impertinent questions. 1962 Listener 7 June 999/1 When the next careful, needling letter arrived from Samuel, the black temper broke loose again. 1976 Economist 13 Nov. 139/1 This type of humour..is more needling and elusive than anything men can produce. 1984 S. Naipaul Beyond Dragon's Mouth 196 My nerves ripple in a radiation of fine, needling pain. |
▪ IV. † ˈneedling, adv. Obs.
Forms: 1 néadlunga, n{yacu}dlinga, 3 nedlunge, 3–4 -linge, 4 -ling, -lyng, nedelynge.
[See need n. and -ling2, and cf. next.]
1. Forcibly; by force.
| c 1000 ælfric St. Basil's Admon. ix. (1849) 52 Maneᵹa..beoð benæmede neadlunga hyra aᵹenes. c 1000 Penit. Egbert in Thorpe Laws II. 186 ᵹif hwa..mæden nydinga [v.r. nydlinga] nimð. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 199 [The adder] criepeð nedlinge þureh nerewe hole, and bileueð hire hude baften hire. |
2. Necessarily.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 190 Nedlunge ȝe moten underuongen me. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints l. (Catherine) 126 All ydolis of stok & stane mone nedling rot, & wast, & wane. c 1380 Lay Folks Catech. (Lamb. MS.) 100 Þese askyngys most nedelynge be fulfyllyd. |