1
as in syringe
a slender hollow instrument by which material is put into or taken from the body through the skin
the nurse inserted the needle into his vein and collected some blood for testing
Synonyms & Similar Words
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1
as in to tease
to attack repeatedly with mean put-downs or insults
we needled him mercilessly for thinking that he had any chance of being the prom date for the school's most popular girl
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in to dog
to subject (someone) to constant scoldings and sharp reminders
quit needling me! I'll take out the trash in a minute!
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of needle
Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 23 Mar. 2025
The release of its big Shattered Space expansion barely moved the needle, getting it to 22,000 concurrent briefly, less than 10% of the original launch.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes, 15 Mar. 2025
Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 7 Feb. 2025
That’s also the case for Peter Doocy, the White House correspondent who relished needling President Biden and his aides, and will now be scrutinized for his handling of Mr. Trump.
—Michael M. Grynbaum, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for needle
Noun
Elsewhere on the farm, Joe finds Suzanne unconscious and barely breathing with a needle dangling from her forearm.
—Verb
Smirk flies under the banner Make Fun, Not War and delights to needle and tweak the NFL and the gravitas of its Big Game.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for needle
Noun
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However, the medication came in single-dose vials, requiring patients to use a traditional syringe instead of the more convenient auto-injector pen that treatment usually comes in.—
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The open syringe style hands track time against an wholly original design underneath, with a railroad track minutes, and fully index Arabic numeral hour track along the inner portion of the dial.—
Noun
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The hair change doesn't appear to be a permanent one, if her Instagram caption is any indicator.—
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In that supply, which provides about 10 percent of the city’s drinking water, levels of chloride — a chemical found in salt and an indicator of salinity — tripled over the last 30 years.—
Verb
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Along with Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters and Gillian Anderson’s characters are teased in the minute-and-a-half-long trailer, which also features a voice appearance from Bridges.—
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The monkeys did it Since the very first episode, people online have been speculating that the monkeys often seen in ambient shots of Thailand’s nature are to blame for the ultimate shootout teased in this season’s opening scene.—
Verb
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The deal ended a nearly nine-year-old felony case that had dogged Paxton since his early days in office.—
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More: 5 takeaways on President Trump's massive tariffs that are even steeper than expected Respondents gave Trump poor marks for his handling of the economy, which 37% approved of, with 30% approving of his work to address the high cost of living, an issue that also dogged Biden.—
Noun
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The passport ranking The ninth edition of the list ranks 199 countries and territories using 20 sources, such as country tax authorities for tax rankings, and the World Happiness Report and the United Nations’ Human Development Index for perception rankings, according to the index.—
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The most notable drop in the index was from imports.—
Verb
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That didn’t stop the state Democratic Party from taunting the freshman congressman with a news release hours before the event that asked why Evans wouldn’t conduct the town hall in person.—
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In a great scene in the 2013 movie 42, Rickey (played by Harrison Ford) taunts the young athlete with racist jabs.—
Noun
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As of Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. ET, there were three river gauge locations in major flooding, 12 in moderate flooding, and 96 in minor flooding, according to the National Water Center, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).—
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The collection also include linen suiting, cotton high gauge knits, water repellent nylon outerwear and silk-linen tops.—
Verb
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Tackle organizer: $19.97 Anyone who plans to fish frequently this spring needs a tackle organizer to keep hooks and bait safe.—
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While the platform has changed, the methodology has not: scareware security alerts designed to bait the user into entering their account passwords.—
Cite this Entry
“Needle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/needle. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.
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