Antonyms for needle


Grammar : Verb
Spell : need-l
Phonetic Transcription : ˈnid l


Definition of needle

Origin :
  • Old English nædl, from Proto-Germanic *næthlo (cf. Old Saxon nathla, Old Norse nal, Old Frisian nedle, Old High German nadala, German Nadel, Gothic neþla "needle"), literally "a tool for sewing," from PIE *net-la-, from root *(s)ne- "to sew, to spin" (cf. Sanskrit snayati "wraps up," Greek nein "to spin," Latin nere "to spin," German nähen "to sew," Old Church Slavonic niti "thread," Old Irish snathat "needle," Welsh nyddu "to sew," nodwydd "needle") + instrumental suffix *-tla.
  • To seke out one lyne in all hys bookes wer to go looke a nedle in a meadow. [Thomas More, c.1530]
  • Meaning "piece of magnetized steel in a compass" is from late 14c. (on a dial or indicator from 1928); the surgical instrument so called from 1727; phonographic sense from 1902; sense of "leaf of a fir or pine tree" first attested 1797. Needledom "the world of sewing" is from 1847. Needle's eye, figurative of a minute opening, often is a reference to Matt. xix:24.
  • verb tease, annoy
Example sentences :
  • How many hours in the twenty-four do you devote to your needle?
  • Extract from : « Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9) » by Samuel Richardson
  • "I'll use my scissors and needle on them to-night," she said, ruthlessly.
  • Extract from : « Thoroughbreds » by W. A. Fraser
  • Wherever I glance my eyes, they meet something that pricks them like a needle.
  • Extract from : « Old News » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Who that has poached a pile does not gravitate there, as the needle to the pole?
  • Extract from : « Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 2, April 9, 1870 » by Various
  • The only thing in which she showed ability, if so it might be called, was in the use of the needle.
  • Extract from : « Night and Morning, Complete » by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
  • They've got spurs on their legs as long's my darnin'-needle.
  • Extract from : « Meadow Grass » by Alice Brown
  • Priscilla dropped her needle, and bent over the frame with interest.
  • Extract from : « The Village Watch-Tower » by (AKA Kate Douglas Riggs) Kate Douglas Wiggin
  • Be so good as to say nothing of my niece's working at her needle.
  • Extract from : « Little Dorrit » by Charles Dickens
  • "There's nothing noble about it at all," she said as she threaded her needle.
  • Extract from : « The Harbor » by Ernest Poole
  • The needle was diligently but awkwardly plied in this pause.
  • Extract from : « Graham's Magazine Vol. XXXII No. 2. February 1848 » by Various

Synonyms for needle

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019