How do you use the word "needle" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "needle" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "needle": It is like looking for a needle in a haystack. My grandma stooped down and picked up a needle and thread.

Needle Meaning

/ˈniː.dəl/

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounA 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.

nounAny slender, pointed object resembling a needle, such as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.

Sentence Examples

It is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

My grandma stooped down and picked up a needle and thread.

CEFR Practice Quiz

The tailor used a thin ____ to sew the button back on.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The tailor used a sharp ____ to sew the button back onto the jacket.

Word Origin & History

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-trom Proto-Indo-European *-tlom Proto-Indo-European *(s)néh₁tlom Proto-Germanic *nēþlą Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Germanic *-ō Proto-Germanic *nēþlō Proto-West Germanic *nāþlu Old English nǣdl Middle English nedle English needle From Middle English nedle, from Old English nǣdl, from Proto-West Germanic *nāþlu, from Proto-Germanic *nēþlō, from pre-Germanic *neh₁-tleh₂, from 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.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

""[…] 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."" — 2023 November 15, Prof. Jim Wild, “This train was delayed because of bad weather in space”, in RAIL, number 996, page 30:

"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." — 1994, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Hippopotamus:

"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." — 2010, Peter MacIntyre, PHP: The Good Parts, page 39:

"[…]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." — 1892, H. Lindo Ferguson, “Operation on Microphthamlmic Eyes”, in Ophthalmic Review, volume 11, page 48:

"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." — 2000, Felix Mann, Reinventing Acupuncture, page 109:

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