Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Needle?

\Nee"dle\, n. [OE. nedle, AS. n?dl; akin to D. neald, OS. n[=a]dla, G. nadel, OHG. n[=a]dal, n[=a]dala, Icel. n[=a]l, Sw. n[*a]l, Dan. naal, and also to G. n["a]hen to sew, OHG. n[=a]jan, L. nere to spin, Gr. ?, and perh. to E. snare: cf. Gael. & Ir. snathad needle, Gael. snath thread, G. schnur string, cord.] 1. A small instrument of steel, sharply pointed at one end, with an eye to receive a thread, -- used in sewing. --Chaucer. Note: In some needles(as for sewing machines) the eye is at the pointed end, but in ordinary needles it is at the blunt end. 2. See {Magnetic needle}, under {Magnetic}. 3. A slender rod or wire used in knitting; a knitting needle; also, a hooked instrument which carries the thread or twine, and by means of which knots or loops are formed in the process of netting, knitting, or crocheting. 4. (Bot.) One of the needle-shaped secondary leaves of pine trees. See {Pinus}. 5. Any slender, pointed object, like a needle, as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc. {Dipping needle}. See under {Dipping}. {Needle bar}, the reciprocating bar to which the needle of a sewing machine is attached. {Needle beam} (Arch.), to shoring, the horizontal cross timber which goes through the wall or a pier, and upon which the weight of the wall rests, when a building is shored up to allow of alterations in the lower part. {Needle furze} (Bot.), a prickly leguminous plant of Western Europe; the petty whin ({Genista Anglica}). {Needle gun}, a firearm loaded at the breech with a cartridge carrying its own fulminate, which is exploded by driving a slender needle, or pin, into it. {Needle loom} (Weaving), a loom in which the weft thread is carried through the shed by a long eye-pointed needle instead of by a shuttle. {Needle ore} (Min.), acicular bismuth; a sulphide of bismuth, lead, and copper occuring in acicular crystals; -- called also {aikinite}. {Needle shell} (Zo["o]l.), a sea urchin. {Needle spar} (Min.), aragonite. {Needle telegraph}, a telegraph in which the signals are given by the deflections of a magnetic needle to the right or to the left of a certain position. {Sea needle} (Zo["o]l.), the garfish.
\Nee"dle\, v. t. To form in the shape of a needle; as, to needle crystals.
\Nee"dle\, v. i. To form needles; to crystallize in the form of needles.