n. 针, 尖

vt. 用针缝

vi. 缝纫

[计] 探针

[医] 针

Needle \Nee"dle\ (n[=e]"d'l), n. [OE. nedle, AS. n[=ae]dl; akin
to D. neald, OS. n[=a]dla, G. nadel, OHG. n[=a]dal,
n[=a]dala, Icel. n[=a]l, Sw. n[*a]l, Dan. naal, and also to
G. n["a]hen to sew, OHG. n[=a]jan, L. nere to spin, Gr.
ne`ein, and perh. to E. snare: cf. Gael. & Ir. snathad
needle, Gael. snath thread, G. schnur string, cord.]
1. A small instrument of steel, sharply pointed at one end,
with an eye to receive a thread, -- used in sewing.
--Chaucer.

Note: In some needles (as for sewing machines) the eye is at
the pointed end, but in ordinary needles it is at the
blunt end.

2. See {Magnetic needle}, under {Magnetic}.

3. A slender rod or wire used in knitting; a knitting needle;
also, a hooked instrument which carries the thread or
twine, and by means of which knots or loops are formed in
the process of netting, knitting, or crocheting.

4. (Bot.) One of the needle-shaped secondary leaves of pine
trees. See {Pinus}.

5. Any slender, pointed object, like a needle, as a pointed
crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.

6. A hypodermic needle; a syringe fitted with a hypodermic
needle, used for injecting fluids into the body.
[Informal]
[PJC]

7. An injection of medicine from a hypodermic needle; a shot.
[PJC]

{Dipping needle}. See under {Dipping}.

{Needle bar}, the reciprocating bar to which the needle of a
sewing machine is attached.

{Needle beam} (Arch.), in shoring, the horizontal cross
timber which goes through the wall or a pier, and upon
which the weight of the wall rests, when a building is
shored up to allow of alterations in the lower part.

{Needle furze} (Bot.), a prickly leguminous plant of Western
Europe; the petty whin ({Genista Anglica}).

{Needle gun}, a firearm loaded at the breech with a cartridge
carrying its own fulminate, which is exploded by driving a
slender needle, or pin, into it. [archaic]

{Needle loom} (Weaving), a loom in which the weft thread is
carried through the shed by a long eye-pointed needle
instead of by a shuttle.

{Needle ore} (Min.), acicular bismuth; a sulphide of bismuth,
lead, and copper occuring in acicular crystals; -- called
also {aikinite}.

{Needle shell} (Zo["o]l.), a sea urchin.

{Needle spar} (Min.), aragonite.

{Needle telegraph}, a telegraph in which the signals are
given by the deflections of a magnetic needle to the right
or to the left of a certain position.

{Sea needle} (Zo["o]l.), the garfish.


Needle \Nee"dle\, v. t.
1. To form in the shape of a needle; as, to needle crystals.

2. To tease (a person), especially repeatedly.
[PJC]

3. To prod or goad (someone) into action by teasing or
daring.
[PJC]


Needle \Nee"dle\, v. i.
To form needles; to crystallize in the form of needles.

Stylus \Sty"lus\, n. [L. stylus, or better stilus.]
1. An instrument for writing. See {Style}, n., 1.

2. That needle-shaped part at the tip of the playing arm of
phonograph which sits in the groove of a phonograph record
while it is turning, to detect the undulations in the
phonograph groove and convert them into vibrations which
are transmitted to a system (since 1920 electronic) which
converts the signal into sound; also called {needle}. The
stylus is frequently composed of a hard metal or of
diamond.
[PJC]

3. The needle-like device used to cut the grooves which
record the sound on the original disc during recording of
a phonograph record; it is moved by the vibrations given
to the diaphragm by a sound, and produces the indented
record.
[PJC]

4. (Computers) A pen-shaped pointing device used to specify
the cursor position on a graphics tablet.
[PJC]