needle 
itt'ilitcrin, a seamstress); prob. orig. with initial 
s, and thus related to Ir. matluifl, a needle, 
madhe, a thread, and AS. snear, string, snare 
(see snare), and ult. connected with L. mere 
= Gr. vhiv, vfiv, spin (the Gr. deriv. vf/T[iov, a 
spindle, < ve(eiv) + -rpov, is nearly identical in 
formation with E. needle).] 1. A small pointed 
instrument, straight or curved, for carrying a 
thread through a woven fabric, paper, leather, 
felt, or other material. It consists of a slender sharp- 
pointed bar pierced with a hole for the thread, either at 
the blunt end, at the point, or in the middle. The first 
11- 
10- 
Upholsterers' and Sailmakers' Needles. 
I, 3%-inch sail ; 2, 2%-inch spear-point carpet ; 3, 1%-inch carpet ; 
4, 2W-tnch carpet ; 5, 2%-inch speying ; 6. upholsterers' skewer ; 7, 
5-inch packing ; 8, 6-inch regulator ; 9, 6-inch No. 14 gage, light spear 
double point ; 10, 6-inch No. IT gage, heavy round single point ; 11, 
6-inch No. 14 gage, light round double point; 12, 2-inch fine round 
tufting ; 13, 2%-inch fine round tufting ; 14, 3-inch flat single round 
curved ; 15, 4-inch round single point curved ; 16, s-inch round single 
point curved. 
form is that of the common sewing-needle ; the second, 
which is practically an awl with an eye at the point, is that 
of the sewing-machine needle, and the third form, which 
is made with a point at each end, is employed in some em- 
broidery-machines. Sewing-needles are commonly made 
of steel ; they range in size from coarse darning-needles 
to fine cambric-needles, and besides the distinctions of pur- 
pose and size are classified, according to the shape and 
character of the eye, the sharpness of the point, and the 
style of finish, as drill-eyed, golden-eyed, sharps, betweens, 
blunts, blue-pointed needles, etc. 
Take two stronge men and in Themese caste hem, 
And bothe naked as a nedle her none sykerer than other. 
Piers Plowman (B), xii. 162. 
Their thimbles into armed gauntlets change, 
Their needles to lances. Shak., K. John, v. 2. 157. 
Sharp as a needle; bless you, Yankees always are. 
W. M. Baker, New Timothy, p. 274. 
2. In a wider sense, any slender pointed instru- 
ment shaped like a needle or used in a similar 
way: as, a knitting-, crochet-, or engraving- 
needle; a surgeons' needle. 3. Anything re- 
sembling a needle in shape. 
The turning of iron touched with the loadstone towards 
the north was found out in needles of iron, not in bars of 
iron. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 
Specifically (a) A small piece of steel pointed at both 
ends, and balanced centrally on a pivot, such as is used (1) 
in the magnetic compass, in which it points to the mag- 
netic poles, and (2) in the needle-telegraph, in which its 
deflections, produced by electric currents, are used to give 
indications. See compass, magnet, dipping-needle, galva- 
nometer, and needle-telegraph. 
Castez coursez lie crafte, whene the clowde rysez, 
With the nedylle and the stone one the nyghte tydez. 
Morle Arthurs (E. E. T. S.), 1. 752. 
After which he obserned a little Needle, supposed to haue 
a power of fore-signifying danger. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 81. 
(6) A thin rod, usually made of copper, which is inserted 
in a drill-hole while this is being charged with powder. 
When the rod is withdrawn, it leaves a space in which can 
be inserted the tube of rush or grass, or the fuse, by which 
the charge is ignited. Also called a blasting -needle, or a 
nail, (c) In weaving, a horizontal piece of wire with an 
eye to receive the lifting- wire in a Jacquard loom. E. H. 
Knight, (d) A sharp pinnacle of rock ; a detached pointed 
rock, (e) In chem. and mineral., a crystal shaped like a 
needle ; an aciform crystal. (/) In zool., a slender, sharp 
spicule; an aciculum. (g) In bat., a needle-shaped leaf, 
as of a conifer: as, a pine-needle, (h) In a central-fire 
hammerlessgun of the variety called needle-gun, a pointed, 
slender, longitudinally sliding bolt or wire which, being 
driven forcibly forward by the spring-mechanism of the 
lock when the gun is fired, strikes with its front end against 
a fulminate or fulminating compound attached to the in- 
terior of the cartridge. The famous Prussian needle-gun 
is believed to be the first gun constructed to be fired on 
this principle. See cut under needle-gun. 
4. In arch., a piece of timber laid horizontally 
and supported on props or shores under a wall 
or building, etc. , which it serves to sustain tem- 
porarily while the foundation or the part be- 
neath is being altered, repaired, or underpinned. 
5. A beam carrying a pulley at the end pro- 
jecting from a building. The fall is worked by 
a crab inside the building. Adam's needle and 
thread. See -Adam. Cannulated needle. Seecannu- 
late. Declination, declension, or variation of the 
needle. See declination. Dip or inclination of the 
needle. See dip. Magnetic needle. See ma//ne(ie. 
Mariners needle, the magnetic needle ; the mariners' 
compass. Needle chervil. See chervU. Needle furze 
See furze. To hit the needle, in archery, to strike the 
center of the mark : often used metaphorically. 
3956 
Indeede she had hit the needle in that devise. 
Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, p. 305. (flares.) 
To look for a needle in a bottle of hay or in a hay- 
stack. See bottles and haystack. 
needle (ne ' dl), v . ; pret. and pp. needled, ppr. 
needling. [< needle, .] I. trans. 1. To form 
into crystals in the shape of needles. 2. To 
perform or work with a needle. 
Scorn'd each important toil of female hearts, 
The trickling ornament and needled arts. 
Brooke, tr. of Jerusalem Delivered, ii. 
II. intrans. To shoot in crystallization into 
the form of needles. Wright. 
needle-annunciator (ne'dl-a-nun"si-a-tor), n. 
1. A dial-telegraph. 2. A form of annuncia- 
tor in which several messages, numbers of 
rooms, office-departments, etc., are inscribed 
on a board, and a needle or pointer is caused 
to point to any one of these indications, at 
the option of the person sending the message. 
E. H. Knight. 
needle-bar (ne'dl-bar), . The bar that sup- 
ports the needles in a knitting-machine, or the 
reciprocating bar that carries the needle of a 
sewing-machine. 
needle-beam (ne'dl-bem), n. 1. A transverse 
floor-beam of a bridge, resting, according to the 
construction of the bridge, on the chord or the 
girders; also, a crosspiece in a queen-post truss, 
serving to support a floor. 2. In. car-building, a 
transverse timber placed between the bolsters, 
beneath the longitudinal sills and floor-timbers, 
to which it is bolted. 
needle-board (ne'dl-bord), n. In the Jacquard 
loom, a perforated board orplate through which 
the points of the needles presented to the cards 
pass, and the perforations of which act as guides 
for the needles when the latter are actuated by 
the cards. The needle-board holds all the needles in 
proper relation with the prism or cylinder to which the 
cards are attached, and with the perforations in the cards. 
needle-book (ne'dl-buk), n. Pieces of cloth, 
kid, chamois, or other material, cut and sewed 
together in the form of the leaves of a book, 
and protected by book-like covers, used to con- 
tain needles, which are stuck into the leaves. 
needle-bug (ne'dl-bug), n. Any bug of the 
genus Sanatra, as S. fitsca or B. quadridentata, 
of very long, slender form, with long, slender 
legs. 
needle-case (ne'dl-kas), . [< ME. nedyl-case; 
< needle + case 2 .'] A small case or box for hold- 
ing needles. 
needle-clerk (ne'dl-klerk), n. A telegraph- 
clerk who receives telegrams by means of a 
needle-instrument. 
The Needle-clerk has to glance alternately from his 
needle to his paper. 
Preece and Sivewright, Telegraphy, p. 93. 
needle-file (ne'dl-fil), n. A long, round, nar- 
row file used by jewelers. E. H. Knight. 
needle-fish (ne'dl-fish), n. 1. One of several 
different garfishes or bill-fishes; any belonid: 
so called from the sharp, slender snout. See 
Eelonidai and garl. 2. A pipe-fish, Syngnathus 
acus, or other species of the genus or family 
Syngnathidce. See Syngnathus. 3. The ago- 
noid fish Aspidophoroides monopterygius. 4. 
Same as needle-shell. 
needle-forceps (ne'dl-f6r"seps), n. A forceps 
for holding needles in suturing. 
Needle-forceps. 
needleful (ne'dl-ful), w. [< needle + -ful.'] As 
much thread as is put at once into a needle. 
She took a new needle/id of thread, waxed it carefully, 
threaded her needle with a steady hand. 
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, xvi. 
needless 
needle-gun (ne'dl-gun), n. A form of breech- 
loading rifle in which the cartridge is exploded 
by the rapid impact at its base of a needle or 
small spike. This firearm attained celebrity in 1866 as 
one of the chief causes of the swift Prussian victories over 
the Austrians. It has been superseded by other rifles of 
superior efficiency. See needle, 3 (</), and cut in preceding 
column. 
needle-holder (ne'dl-hoFder), n. In surg., an 
instrument for holding a needle in suturing. 
Also called porteaiyuille. See cut under acu- 
tenaciilnm. 
needle-hook (ne'dl-huk), . A needle-pointed 
or barbless fish-hook. 
needle-house (ne'dl-hous), n. [< ME. nedle- 
hous, nedylhows (= Sw. n&lhux = Dan. naalehus); 
< needle + house (prob. < Icel. h'Hn, a case) : see 
house^ and hussy^.'] A small case for needles. 
Lydgate. (Halliwell.) 
needle-instrument (ne'dl-m // str-ment), n. 
Any instrument the action of which depends 
upon an application of the magnetic needle, as 
the plain compass or vernier-compass and the 
vernier-transit. 
needle-loom (ne'dl-lom), n. A form of loom 
used especially for narrow fabrics, in which the 
weft is carried through the shed formed by the 
Pnissian Needle-gun. 
a, cartridge ; b, bullet ; c, paper wad carrying detonating compound 
inrecess; a, charge of powder; , needle passing through and slid- 
ing in the breech-piece, and striking on the detonating compound ; f, 
breech-piece ; %, sliding spring-bolt which carries and operates the 
needle; h, a collar on the bolt, g, which engages the sear when g is 
drawn back ; i, the sear ; , spring on which the sear. *', is formed, and 
which is pressed downward by the trigger to release the bolt, fr, when 
the gun is fired ; /, the trigger, which engages the spring, *, by a for- 
wardly projecting lip; m, thumb-piece of spring-catch, which latter 
holds the breech-piece in place during the firing, and which, pressed 
downward, releases the breech-piece ; 0, thumb-piece of lock-tube ; r, 
handle of the breech-piece. When tn is depressed, rmay be turned to 
the left and the breech-piece drawn backward for inserting the car- 
tridge. After the cartridge is put in and the breech-piece is pushed 
forward, the drawing back of the lock-tube engages h with the sear, 
i, and the gun is then ready to be fired. 
Eamshaw's Needle-loom. 
The needle-stock D slides on bars, a a, projecting from the side of 
the loom, and is actuated by a rocker-shaft E, a vibrating arm c, and 
connections. The shuttle e has a segmental guide-groove, and is 
operated by a divaricated arm , upon a rocker-shaft A. 
warp-threads by means of a reciprocating nee- 
dle instead of a shuttle. The loop of the weft 
is locked at the selvage by the passage through 
it of a shuttle with its thread, 
needleman (ne'dl-man), n. ; pi. needlemen 
(-men). A man whose occupation consists of 
or includes sewing, as a tailor, an upholsterer, 
etc. 
The open thimble being employed by tailors, upholster- 
ers, and, generally speaking, by needlemen. 
Vre, Diet, III. 995. 
needle-ore (ne'dl-6r), n. Acicular bismuth or 
aikinite. See aikinite. 
needle-pointed (ne'dl-poin'ted), a. 1. Pointed 
like a needle. 2. Barbless, as a fish-hook. 
needier (ne'dler), n. [< ME. nedeler, neldere; < 
needle + -erl.~\ 1. One who makes or deals in 
needles. 
Thomme the tynkere and tweye of hus knaues, 
Hikkethe hakeneyman and Hughe the nedeler. 
Piers Plowman (B), v. 318. 
2. Figuratively, a sharper; a niggard. Encyc. 
Diet. 
needle-setter (ne'dl-sefer), n. An attachment 
to a sewing-machine for assisting to put the 
needle in place in the needle-bar. It is often 
combined with a needle-threader. 
needle-Shaped (ne'dl-shapt), a. Shaped like a 
needle ; long and very slender, with one or both 
ends sharp ; acicular : applied in botany to the 
leaves of the pine, fir, yew, and other conifer- 
ous trees. 
needle-sharpener (ne'dl-shiirp"ner), i. 1. An 
emery-cake or -cushion used for sharpening nee- 
dles. 3. An emery-wheel used for pointing 
needles. 
needle-shell (ne'dl-shel), n. A sea-urchin: so 
called from its spines. Also nccdle-fislt. 
needle-spar (ne'dl-spar), n. An acicular variety 
of aragonite. 
needless (ned'les), a. [< ME. needles, nedlcx : 
< need + -to-*.] If. Having no need; not in 
want of anything. 
Weeping in the needless stream. 
Shak., As you Like it, ii. 1. 46. 
2. Not wanted; unnecessary; not requisite: 
as, needless labor ; needless expense. 
Friends . . . were the most needless creatures living, 
should we ne'er have use for 'em, and would most resem- 
ble sweet instruments hung up in cases that keep their 
sounds to themselves. Shak., T. of A., i. 2. 100. 
That Herod's ominous Birth-Day forth may bring 
A needless Death to every kind of thing. 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, iii. 171, 
