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English
An assortment of sewing needles A hypodermic needle and syringe Needles (botany)
Etymology
Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *(s)néh₁tlom
Proto-Germanic *nēþlą
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ English needle
From Middle English nedle Old English nǣdl Proto-West Germanic *nāþlu Proto-Germanic *nēþlō *neh₁-tleh₂ Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁- ( “ to spin, twist ” ) .
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Näddele ( “ sewing needle ” ) , Dutch naald ( “ needle ” ) , German Nadel ( “ needle, pin, crochet hook ” ) , nähen ( “ sew ” ) , Luxembourgish Nol ( “ needle ” ) , Vilamovian nöłd ( “ needle ” ) , Yiddish נאָדל ( nodl , “ needle, pin ” ) , Danish Norwegian Bokmål Norwegian Nynorsk Swedish nål ( “ needle ” ) , Elfdalian ną̊l ( “ needle ” ) , Faroese Icelandic nál ( “ needle ” ) , Gothic 𐌽𐌴𐌸𐌻𐌰 ( nēþla , “ sewing needle ” ) , Finnish neula ( “ needle ” ) . Further related with Welsh nyddu Latin nēre Sanskrit स्नायति ( snāyati , “ wraps up, winds ” ) . Related to snood
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈniː.dəl/ , [ˈnɪi̯.dəl] ~ [ˈnɪi̯.dl̩]
Rhymes: -iːdəl
Hyphenation: nee‧dle
Noun
needle (plural needles
A long , thin , sharp implement usually for piercing as in sewing , embroidery , acupuncture , tattooing , body piercing , medical injections , sutures , etc; or a blunt but otherwise similar implement used for forming loops or knots in crafts such as darning , knitting , tatting , etc.
Synonym: ( obsolete ) neele The seamstress threaded the needle to sew on a button.
reusable needles
single-use needles
Any slender, pointed object resembling a needle, such as a pointed crystal , a sharp pinnacle of rock , an obelisk , etc.
A fine measurement indicator on a dial or graph .
a compass needle
The needle on the fuel gauge pointed to empty.
2023 November 15, Prof. Jim Wild, “This train was delayed because of bad weather in space”, in RAIL , number 996 , page 30 :" [ …] On the 18th of October, 1841, a very intense magnetic disturbance was recorded, and amongst other curious facts mentioned is that of the detention of the 10:05pm express train at Exeter for 16 minutes, as from the magnetic disturbance affecting the needles so powerfully, it was impossible to ascertain if the line was clear at Starcross. The superintendent at Exeter reported the next morning that someone was playing tricks with the instruments, and would not let them work."
( informal ) sensor for playing phonograph records , a phonograph stylus .
Ziggy bought some diamond needles for his hi-fi phonograph.
A needle-like leaf found on some conifers .
1994 Stephen Fry , chapter 2, in The Hippopotamus At the very moment he cried out, David realised that what he had run into was only the Christmas tree. Disgusted with himself at such cowardice, he spat a needle from his mouth.
A strong beam resting on props, used as a temporary support during building repairs.
( informal , usually preceded by the ) death penalty carried out by lethal injection .( programming ) text string that is searched for within another string. (see: needle in a haystack )
2010 PHP: The Good Parts , page 39 :Both of these functions will look through the haystack for the specified needle and, if they find it, will return the portion of the string from the beginning of the needle to the end of the haystack.
( entomology ) damselfly of the genus Synlestes endemic to Australia.( gymnastics )
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
implement for sewing etc.
Abkhaz: агәыр ( agʷər )
Acehnese: jarom
Afrikaans: naald (af)
Ahom: 𑜁𑜢𑜉𑜫 ( khim )
Ainu: ケㇺ ( kem )
Aklanon: dagom
Alabama: chofisɬopòoli chofistoolfa
Albanian: gjilpërë (sq) f shtizë (sq)
Altai:
Southern Altai: ийне ( iyne )
Amharic: መርፌ ( märfe )
Apache:
Jicarilla: awóoha
Arabic: إِبْرَة (ar) f ( ʔibra ) , مِخْيَط (ar) m ( miḵyaṭ )
Egyptian Arabic: إبرة f ( ʔebra )
Aragonese: agulla
Aramaic:
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܚܡܵܛܵܐ f ( ḥmāṭā ) , ܡܚܲܛܵܐ f ( mḥaṭṭā )
Christian Palestinian Aramaic: ܡܚܛܐ m ( mḥṭʔ ) , ܬܒܢܐ m ( tbnʔ )
Classical Mandaic: ࡌࡄࡀࡈࡀ f ( mhaṭa )
Classical Syriac: ܡܚܲܛܵܐ m or f ( mḥaṭṭā )
Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: מַחֲטָא m ( maḥăṭā )
Armenian: ասեղ (hy) ( aseġ )
Old Armenian: ասեղն ( asełn )
Aromanian: ac
Assamese: বেজী ( bezi )
Asturian: aguya (ast) f
Avar: рукӏкӏен ( rukkʼen )
Azerbaijani: iynə (az) , qıyıq ( large )
Bashkir: энә ( enä )
Basque: orratz
Belarusian: іго́лка f ( ihólka ) , ігла́ f ( ihlá ) , спі́ца f ( spíca ) ( for knitting )
Bengali: ছুঁচ (bn) ( chũc ) , সূচী (bn) ( śuci ) , সুই (bn) ( śui )
Bikol:
Central Bikol: dagom (bcl)
Bouyei: jiml
Breton: nadoz (br)
Budukh: руб ( rub )
Bulgarian: игла́ (bg) f ( iglá )
Burmese: အပ် (my) ( ap )
Buryat: зүүн ( züün )
Catalan: agulla (ca) f
Cebuano: dagom
Cham:
Eastern Cham: jarum
Western Cham: please add this translation if you can
Chamicuro: amejkisi
Chavacano: aguja
Chechen: маха ( maxa )
Cherokee: ᏴᎩ ( yvgi )
Chichewa: singano
Chickasaw: naaishtalhcho'wa'
Chinese:
Cantonese: 針 / 针 (yue) ( zam1 )
Dungan: җын ( žɨn )
Hokkien: 針 / 针 ( chiam )
Mandarin: 針 / 针 (zh) ( zhēn )
Chukchi: титиӈы
Chuvash: йӗп ( jĕp )
Circassian:
West Circassian: мастэ ( mastɛ )
Comorian:
Ngazidja Comorian: sindanu class 9 /10 , sindzanu class 9 /10
Crimean Tatar: iyne
Czech: jehla (cs) f
Dalmatian: juac m
Danish: nål c
Dongxiang: zhun
Dutch: naald (nl) f
Emilian: agåccia f gùcia f
Erzya: салмукс ( salmuks )
Esperanto: nadlo kudrilo (eo) ( for sewing ) , injektilo ( for injecting )
Estonian: nõel (et)
Even: инмэ̇ ( inmə̇ )
Evenki: инмэ ( inmə )
Extremaduran: abuja f aúja f uja f
Fala: agulla f
Faroese: nál f
Fataluku: caruma
Finnish: neula (fi)
French: aiguille (fr) f
Frisian:
Saterland Frisian: Näddele f
West Frisian: nuddel c
Friulian: gusiele
Gagauz: iinä
Galician: agulla (gl) f
Georgian: ნემსი (ka) ( nemsi )
German: Nadel (de) f Old High German: nādala
Gothic: 𐌽𐌴𐌸𐌻𐌰 f ( nēþla )
Greek: βελόνα (el) f ( velóna )
Ancient Greek: βελόνη f ( belónē ) , ῥαφίς f ( rhaphís )
Gujarati: સોય (gu) ( soya )
Haitian Creole: zegwi
Hausa: allura
Hebrew: מַחַט (he) f ( mákhat )
Higaonon: dagum
Hiligaynon: dagum
Hindi: सुई (hi) f ( suī )
Hmong:
White Hmong: koob
Hungarian: tű (hu) , varrótű (hu)
Icelandic: nál (is) f saumnál f
Ilocano: dagum
Indonesian: jarum (id)
Ingrian: neegla
Ingush: маха ( maxa )
Iranun: ragum
Irish: snáthaid f
Isnag: daxum
Istriot: ago m
Italian: ago (it) m
Itelmen: сыс
Ivatan: dayem
Japanese: 針 (ja) ( はり, hari )
Javanese: dom (jv)
Kalmyk: темн ( temn ) , зүн ( zün )
Kannada: ಸೂಜಿ (kn) ( sūji )
Kapampangan: karayum
Karachay-Balkar: ийне ( iyne )
Karakalpak: iyne (kaa)
Kazakh: ине ( ıyne )
Ket: иʼнь ( iˀn’ ) , иʼн ( iˀn )
Khakas: іңе ( ìñe )
Khmer: ម្ជុល (km) ( mcul )
Korean: 바늘 (ko) ( baneul )
Kumyk: ине ( ine )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: دەرزی (ckb) ( derzî )
Laki: دەرزەن (ku) ( derzen )
Northern Kurdish: derzî (ku)
Southern Kurdish: دەرزی (ku) ( derzî )
Kyrgyz: ийне (ky) ( iyne )
Ladin: odla f
Lao: ເຂັມ (lo) ( khem )
Latgalian: odota
Latin: acus (la) f
Latvian: adata (lv) f
Laz: please add this translation if you can
Lezgi: раб ( rab )
Lingala: ntonga tonga
Lithuanian: adata (lt) f
Livonian: nõggõl
Lombard: guggia (lmo) f gügia f
Lü: ᦃᦲᧄ ( ẋiim )
Macedonian: игла f ( igla )
Maguindanao: ragum
Makasae: ruma
Malay: jarum (ms)
Malayalam: സൂചി (ml) ( sūci )
Maltese: labra f
Manchu: ᡠᠯᠮᡝ ( ulme )
Mansaka: dagum
Māori: mātuhi uhi ( for tattooing ) , ngira ( for sewing )
Maranao: ragom
Marathi: सुई ( suī )
Moksha: салмокс ( salmoks )
Mongo: ntonga
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: зүү (mn) ( züü ) , тэвнэ (mn) ( tevne )
Munsee: ambiilaméekwaan
Muong: kim
Nanai: хурмэ ( hurme )
Navajo: tsah tsah bee náʼálkadí
Neapolitan: aco m
Nepali: सुई ( suī )
Ngombe (Congo): tonga
Nivkh: нух ( nux )
Norman: aidgulle f ( Jersey, Guernsey ) , aigùule f ( continental Normandy ) , edjulle f ( Guernsey )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: nål m or f synål m or f ( knitting needle ) pinne (no) m strikkepinne m
Nynorsk: nål f synål f ( knitting needle ) pinne m strikkepinn m strikkepinne m
Occitan: agulha (oc) f
Odia: ଛୁଞ୍ଚି (or) ( chuñci ) , ସୂଚୀ ( suci )
Okinawan: 針 鍼 ( はーい, hāi )
Old English: nǣdl f
Old Norse: nál f
Old Prussian: ayculo
Oromo: lilimmoo
Ossetian: судзин ( suʒin )
Pali: sūci f
Pannonian Rusyn: игелка f ( ihelka ) , игла f ( ihla )
Papiamentu: angua hangua
Paraujano: utiña
Pashto: ستن (ps) f ( stən )
Persian:
Dari: سوزَن ( sōzan )
Iranian Persian: سوزَن ( suzan )
Plautdietsch: Notel f
Polish: igła (pl) f drut (pl)
Portuguese: agulha (pt) f
Punjabi: ਸੂਈ (pa) ( sūī )
Quechua: yawri
Rohingya: fuic
Romagnol: eg m
Romanian: ac (ro) n andrea (ro) f ( knitting needle ) , undrea (ro) f ( knitting needle )
Romansh: guglia
Russian: игла́ (ru) f ( iglá ) , иго́лка (ru) f ( igólka ) , спи́ца (ru) f ( spíca ) ( for knitting )
Sami:
Skolt Sami: neuˊll
Sanskrit: सूची (sa) ( sūcī )
Sardinian: àcu
Sasak: jarum
Scottish Gaelic: snàthad f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ѝгла f
Latin: ìgla (sh) f
Shan: ၶဵမ် (shn) ( khǎem )
Shor: инге ( inge )
Sicilian: augghia (scn) f
Sikkimese: ཁབ ( khab )
Sinhalese: කටුව ( kaṭuwa ) , සූචිය ( sūciya )
Slovak: ihla (sk) f
Slovene: igla (sl) f šivanka f
Somali: irbbad
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: glicka f ( for sewing ) , gła f ( for darning ) , jegła f ( for knitting )
Upper Sorbian: jehła f
Spanish: aguja (es) f yawri (es) m ( large, Bolivia ) , yauri m or f ( large, Andes )
Swahili: sindano (sw)
Swedish: nål (sv) c ( for knitting ) sticka (sv) c synål (sv) c ( for sewing )
Tagalog: karayom (tl)
Tai Dam: ꪹꪄꪸꪣ
Tajik: сӯзан (tg) ( süzan )
Talysh: darzən
Tamil: ஊசி (ta) ( ūci )
Tarifit: iseyni m tiseyneft f
Tat: dərzən
Tatar: энә (tt) ( enä ) , инә (tt) ( inä )
Tausug: jawm
Tboli: dalum
Telugu: సూది (te) ( sūdi )
Tetum: daun
Thai: เข็ม (th) ( kěm )
Tibetan: ཁབ ( khab )
Tigrinya: መርፍእ ( märfəʾ )
Turkish: iğne (tr)
Ottoman Turkish: ایكنه ( iğne ) , ابره ( ibre ) , سوزن ( suzen )
Turkmen: iňňe
Tuvan: ине ( ine )
Udihe: иӈмэ
Ukrainian: го́лка f ( hólka ) , спи́ця f ( spýcja ) ( for knitting ) , дро́тик m ( drótyk ) ( for knitting )
Ulithian: did
Urdu: سُوئی m ( sūī ) , سوزَن f ( sozan )
Uyghur: يىڭنە ( yingne )
Cyrillic: жиңнә ( zhingne )
Uzbek: igna (uz)
Venetan: gucia f guxela ucia
Vietnamese: kim (vi)
Volapük: nad (vo)
Votic: niglõ
Waray-Waray: da-gum
Welsh: nodwydd f ( for sewing ) , gweyllen f ( for knitting )
Woiwurrung: (please verify ) kullap
Yakan: please add this translation if you can
Yakut: иннэ ( inne )
Yiddish: נאָדל f ( nodl ) , שפּילקע f ( shpilke )
Yoruba: abẹ́rẹ́
Yukaghir:
Northern Yukaghir: муридьэ ( murid̦e )
Zhuang: cim caemz chaem
Albanian: gjilpërë (sq) f akrep (sq) m
Armenian: սլաք (hy) ( slakʻ )
Azerbaijani: ibrə
Belarusian: стрэ́лка f ( strélka )
Bulgarian: стрелка́ (bg) f ( strelká )
Catalan: agulla (ca) f
Czech: jehla (cs) f
Danish: nål c
Dutch: naald (nl) f
Esperanto: montrilo (eo) , nadlo
Finnish: neula (fi)
French: aiguille (fr) f
Frisian:
Saterland Frisian: Näddele f
West Frisian: nuddel c
German: Nadel (de) f Old High German: nādala
Greek: βελόνα (el) f ( velóna )
Hebrew: מַחַט (he) f ( mákhat )
Hindi: सुई (hi) f ( suī )
Hungarian: tű (hu) , mutató (hu)
Icelandic: nál (is) f
Irish: snáthaid f
Italian: lancetta (it) f
Latvian: adata (lv) f
Macedonian: сказалка f ( skazalka ) , стрелка f ( strelka ) , показалка f ( pokazalka )
Occitan: agulha (oc) f
Polish: wskazówka (pl) f
Portuguese: agulha (pt) f ponteiro (pt)
Romanian: ac (ro) n
Russian: стре́лка (ru) f ( strélka )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ѝгла f ка̀за̄љка f
Latin: ìgla (sh) f kàzāljka (sh) f
Slovak: ručička f
Slovene: igla (sl) f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: wubijak m
Spanish: saeta (es) f saetilla (es) f aguja (es) f
Swahili: sindano (sw)
Swedish: nål (sv) c visare (sv) c
Turkish: ibre (tr)
Ottoman Turkish: ابره ( ibre )
Ukrainian: стрі́лка f ( strílka )
leaf of conifer
Alabama: choyyihissi
Albanian: halë (sq)
Armenian: փուշ (hy) ( pʻuš )
Bashkir: энә ( enä )
Belarusian: іго́лка f ( ihólka )
Bulgarian: игли́чка f ( iglíčka )
Catalan: agulla (ca) f
Czech: jehlice (cs) f
Danish: nål c
Dutch: naald (nl) f
Finnish: neulanen (fi)
French: aiguille (fr) f
Frisian:
Saterland Frisian: Näddele f
West Frisian: nuddel c
Galician: agulla (gl) f poma (gl) f arume (gl) m frouma (gl) f
German: Nadel (de) f Old High German: nādala
Greek: πευκοβελόνα (el) f ( pefkovelóna )
Hebrew: מַחַט (he) f ( máhat )
Hungarian: tű (hu) , tűlevél (hu)
Italian: ago (it) m
Japanese: 針葉 (ja) ( しんよう, shin'yō )
Latin: folium (la) n
Latvian: skujas f pl
Lithuanian: spyglys m
Macedonian: игла f ( igla )
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: шилмүүс (mn) ( šilmüüs )
Mongolian script: ᠰᠢᠯᠮᠦᠦᠰᠦ ( silmüüsü )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: barnål m or f
Nynorsk: barnål f
Occitan: agulha (oc) f
Polish: igła (pl) f
Portuguese: agulha (pt) f
Romanian: ac (ro) n
Russian: игла́ (ru) f ( iglá ) , иго́лка (ru) f ( igólka ) , хвои́нка (ru) f ( xvoínka ) , ( collective ) хво́я (ru) f ( xvója )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ѝглица f
Latin: ìglica (sh) f
Slovak: ihlica f
Slovene: iglica (sl) f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: jeglicka f jeglina f ( collective )
Spanish: acícula f aguja (es) f
Swahili: sindano (sw)
Swedish: barr (sv) n
Turkish: iğne (tr)
Ukrainian: го́лка f ( hólka ) , хво́я f ( xvója ) ( collective or single )
Welsh: nodwydd f
Translations to be checked
See also
Further reading
Verb
needle (third-person singular simple present needles present participle needling simple past and past participle needled
To pierce with a needle, especially for sewing or acupuncture .
1892 Ophthalmic Review , volume 11 , page 48 :[ …] the eyes were once more beginning to show the old nystagmus; so I decided to needle the cataracts, and on Jan. 31 I needled the right eye.
2000 Reinventing Acupuncture , page 109 :Possibly the greatest effect is achieved in the hand by needling the thumb, the index finger and the region of the 1st and 2nd metacarpal.
( transitive ) tease in order to provoke ; to poke fun at.
Synonyms: goad tease Billy needled his sister incessantly about her pimples.
1984 Clinical Perspectives on the Supervision of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy , page 14 :FRED: Well, I teased her to some extent, or I needled her, not teased her. I needled her about—first I said that she didn't want to work, and then I think that there were a couple of comments.
2015 Rifts World Book 35 :To needle Lady Leviathan, Hel has convinced her husband to agree to the heartful offer.
2023 July 12, Dan Sabbagh, “Zelenskiy forced to recalibrate to avert Nato summit falling-out”, in Katharine Viner , editor, The Guardian [1] Guardian News & Media , →ISSN →OCLC the original on 18 October 2026 :Significantly, similar language was used by Sullivan, who had been needled by a question from a Ukrainian activist who suggested the US was “afraid of Ukraine winning”.
( ambitransitive ) to needle crystals
Derived terms
Translations
to tease in order to provoke
Bulgarian: дразня (bg) ( draznja ) , провокирам (bg) ( provokiram )
Dutch: stangen (nl) , pesten (nl) , plagen (nl) , prikkelen (nl)
Finnish: piikitellä (fi) , kiusoitella (fi) , härnätä (fi)
French: taquiner (fr) , monter qqn (fr) , asticoter (fr)
German: hänseln (de)
Greek: βουρλίζω (el) ( vourlízo ) , διαολίζω (el) ( diaolízo )
Hungarian: piszkál (hu)
Italian: punzecchiare (it)
Māori: hakirara makitohene
Polish: drażnić (pl)
Serbo-Croatian: podbadati (sh)
Slovak: podpichnúť podpichovať
Swahili: sindano (sw)
Anagrams
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