needle

noun

• 1a very fine slender piece of polished metal with a point at one end and a hole or eye for thread at the other, used in sewing: a darning needle
• a similar, larger instrument used in crafts such as crochet, knitting, and lacemaking.

• 2the pointed hollow end of a hypodermic syringe.
• a very fine metal spike used in acupuncture.

• 3a thin pointer on a dial, compass, or other instrument: the meter needle barely moved

• 4something likened to a needle, in particular:
• a stylus used to play records: she wound the gramophone and lowered the needle on to the record
• an etching tool.
• a steel pin exploding the cartridge of a breech-loading gun.

• 5the sharp, stiff, slender leaf of a fir or pine tree.

• 6a pointed rock or peak: just left of the needle is a steep wall for those who like bold climbing
• (the Needles) a group of rocks in the sea off the western tip of the Isle of Wight in southern England.
• an obelisk:Cleopatra’s Needle

• 7 [mass noun] British informal hostility or antagonism provoked by rivalry:there is already a little bit of needle between the sides

• 8a beam used as a temporary support during underpinning.

verb

• 1prick or pierce with or as if with a needle:dust needled his eyes

• 2 informal provoke or annoy (someone) by continual criticism or questioning:I just said that to Charlie to needle him