| needle | 1. A small instrument of steel, sharply pointed at one end, with an eye to receive a thread, used in sewing. 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. <botany> 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. Dipping needle. See Dipping. Needle bar, the reciprocating bar to which the needle of a sewing machine is attached. Needle beam, to 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. <botany> Needle furze, the garfish. Origin: OE. Nedle, AS. Ndl; akin to D. Neald, OS. Nadla, G. Nadel, OHG. Nadal, nadala, Icel. Nal, Sw. Nal, Dan. Naal, and also to G. Nahen to sew, OHG. Najan, L. Nere to spin, Gr, and perh. To E. Snare: cf. Gael. & Ir. Snathad needle, Gael. Snath thread, G. Schnur string, cord. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| needle bath | A bath in which water is projected forcibly against the body in many very fine jets. (05 Mar 2000) |
| needle biopsy | Removal of a sample of tissue from the breast using a wide-core needle with suction. (09 Oct 1997) |
| needle culture | A culture produced by inserting an inoculating needle with inoculum down the centre of a solid medium contained in a test tube. Synonym: needle culture. (05 Mar 2000) |
| needle-exchange programs | Organised services for exchange of sterile needles and syringes used for injections as a potential means of reducing the transmission of infectious diseases. (12 Dec 1998) |
| needle forceps | An instrument for grasping a needle in suturing. Synonym: needle forceps. (05 Mar 2000) |
| needle-holder | An instrument for grasping a needle in suturing. Synonym: needle forceps. (05 Mar 2000) |
| needle point tracing | A tracing of mandibular movements made by means of a device attached to the opposing arches; its shape resembles that of an arrowhead or a Gothic arch, and when the instrument's marking point is at the apex of the arch, the jaws are considered to be in centric relation. Synonym: arrow point tracing, Gothic arch tracing, Gothic arch, stylus tracing. (05 Mar 2000) |
| needle sharing | Usage of a single needle among two or more people for injecting drugs. Needle sharing is a high-risk behaviour for contracting infectious disease. (12 Dec 1998) |
| stereotactic needle biopsy | Biopsy done while breast is compressed under mammography. A series of pictures locate the lesion, and a radiologist enters information into a computer. The computer calculates information and positions a needle to remove the finding. A needle is inserted into the lump, and a piece of tissue is removed and sent to the lab for analysis. May be referred to as mammotest or core biopsy. (09 Oct 1997) |
| stop-needle | A surgical needle, with the eye at the tip, the shank of which has a projecting shelf to arrest the needle when it has passed the desired distance through the tissues. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Deschamps needle | A needle with a long shaft for passing sutures in the deep tissues. (05 Mar 2000) |
| devil's darning-needle | <zoology> A dragon fly. See Darning needle, under Darn. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| touch-needle | <chemistry> A small bar of gold and silver, either pure, or alloyed in some known proportion with copper, for trying the purity of articles of gold or silver by comparison of the streaks made by the article and the bar on a touchstone. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Emmet's needle | <instrument, surgery> A strong needle with the eye in the point, having a wide curve, and set in a handle, used to pass a ligature around an undissected structure. (05 Mar 2000) |