needle
    n 1: the leaf of a conifer [syn: acerate leaf, needle]
    2: a slender pointer for indicating the reading on the scale of
       a measuring instrument
    3: a sharp pointed implement (usually steel)
    4: a stylus that formerly made sound by following a groove in a
       phonograph record [syn: phonograph needle, needle]
    v 1: goad or provoke,as by constant criticism; "He needled her
         with his sarcastic remarks" [syn: needle, goad]
    2: prick with a needle

Needle \Nee"dle\, v. t.
   1. To form in the shape of a needle; as, to needle crystals.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To tease (a person), especially repeatedly.
      [PJC]

   3. To prod or goad (someone) into action by teasing or
      daring.
      [PJC]

Needle \Nee"dle\, v. i.
   To form needles; to crystallize in the form of needles.
   [1913 Webster]

Needle \Nee"dle\ (n[=e]"d'l), n. [OE. nedle, AS. n[=ae]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[aum]hen to sew, OHG. n[=a]jan, L. nere to spin, Gr.
   ne`ein, 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.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
         [1913 Webster]

   2. See Magnetic needle, under Magnetic.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Bot.) One of the needle-shaped secondary leaves of pine
      trees. See Pinus.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. Any slender, pointed object, like a needle, as a pointed
      crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. A hypodermic needle; a syringe fitted with a hypodermic
      needle, used for injecting fluids into the body.
      [Informal]
      [PJC]

   7. An injection of medicine from a hypodermic needle; a shot.
      [PJC]

   Dipping needle. See under Dipping.

   Needle bar, the reciprocating bar to which the needle of a
      sewing machine is attached.

   Needle beam (Arch.), in 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. [archaic]

   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 (Zool.), 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 (Zool.), the garfish.
      [1913 Webster]

Stylus \Sty"lus\, n. [L. stylus, or better stilus.]
   1. An instrument for writing. See Style, n., 1.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. That needle-shaped part at the tip of the playing arm of
      phonograph which sits in the groove of a phonograph record
      while it is turning, to detect the undulations in the
      phonograph groove and convert them into vibrations which
      are transmitted to a system (since 1920 electronic) which
      converts the signal into sound; also called needle. The
      stylus is frequently composed of a hard metal or of
      diamond.
      [PJC]

   3. The needle-like device used to cut the grooves which
      record the sound on the original disc during recording of
      a phonograph record; it is moved by the vibrations given
      to the diaphragm by a sound, and produces the indented
      record.
      [PJC]

   4. (Computers) A pen-shaped pointing device used to specify
      the cursor position on a graphics tablet.
      [PJC] Stymie

Needle
   used only in the proverb, "to pass through a needle's eye"
   (Matt. 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25). Some interpret the
   expression as referring to the side gate, close to the principal
   gate, usually called the "eye of a needle" in the East; but it
   is rather to be taken literally. The Hebrew females were skilled
   in the use of the needle (Ex. 28:39; 26:36; Judg. 5:30).