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needle

nee·dle/ˈniː.dəl/noun, verb

needle is spelled N-E-E-D-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (nee·dle). It appears 9.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,338th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, needle means “A long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing as in sewing, embroidery, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections, sutures, etc…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of needle is needles.

How many letters and syllables are in needle?

Letters6: N-E-E-D-L-E
Syllables2: nee·dle
In writing9.5 times per million words; the 7,338th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is needle?

Needle appears 9.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,338th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce needle?

  • /ˈniː.dəl/
  • [ˈnɪi̯.dəl] ~ [ˈnɪi̯.dl̩]

Needle has 2 syllables, split nee·dle in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-needle.ogg, En-au-needle.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-needle.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of needle

  • needles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • needling participle, present
  • needled participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does needle mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    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.

    The seamstress threaded the needle to sew on a button.

  2. 2

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

  3. 3

    A fine measurement indicator on a dial or graph.

    a compass needle

  4. 4

    informalA sensor for playing phonograph records, a phonograph stylus.

    Ziggy bought some diamond needles for his hi-fi phonograph.

  5. 5

    A needle-like leaf found on some conifers.

  6. 6

    A strong beam resting on props, used as a temporary support during building repairs.

  7. 7

    informalThe death penalty carried out by lethal injection.

  8. 8

    A text string that is searched for within another string. (see: needle in a haystack)

verb

  1. 1

    To pierce with a needle, especially for sewing or acupuncture.

  2. 2

    To tease in order to provoke; to poke fun at.

    Billy needled his sister incessantly about her pimples.

  3. 3

    To form, or be formed, in the shape of a needle.

    to needle crystals

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate needle?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of needle: ndl.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Needle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchaiguille (implement for sewing etc), saphir (sensor phonograph stylus), coudre (to pierce with a needle), taquiner, monter qqn, asticoter (to tease in order to provoke)
GermanNadel (implement for sewing etc), hänseln (to tease in order to provoke)
Portugueseagulha (implement for sewing etc), ponteiro (indicating device)
Spanishaguja, yawri, yauri (implement for sewing etc), saeta, saetilla (indicating device)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does needle come from?

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”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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