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Needle vs Spindle - What's the difference?

needle | spindle |

Spindle is a synonym of needle.



As nouns the difference between needle and spindle

is that needle is a long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing such as sewing, or knitting, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections etc while spindle is a rod used for spinning and then winding natural fibres (especially wool), usually consisting of a shaft and a circular whorl positioned at either the upper or lower end of the shaft when suspended vertically from the forming thread.

As verbs the difference between needle and spindle

is that needle is to pierce with a needle, especially for sewing or acupuncture while spindle is to make into a long tapered shape.

needle

English

(wikipedia needle)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing such as sewing, or knitting, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections etc.
    • The seamstress threaded the needle to sew on a button.
  • Any slender, pointed object resembling a needle, such as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.
  • A long, thin device for indicating measurements on a dial or graph, e.g. a compass needle .
    • The needle on the fuel gauge pointed to empty.
  • A sensor for playing phonograph records, a phonograph stylus.
    • Ziggy bought some diamond needles for his hi-fi phonograph.
  • A long, pointed leaf found on some conifers.
  • * 1994 , , ch. 2:
    • 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.
  • (informal, usually preceded by the) The death penalty carried out by lethal injection.

    • Derived terms

    * compass needle * knitting needle * needlenose * needlenose pliers * on pins and needles * move the needle * packing needle * pine needle * pins and needles * needle in a haystack * needlepunch * needle-sharp * needlewise

    See also

    * acerate * eye * pin

    Verb

    (needl)
  • To pierce with a needle, especially for sewing or acupuncture.
  • * 1892 , H. Lindo Ferguson, "Operation on Microphthamlmic Eyes", Ophthalmic Review? , volume 11, page 48
    • 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.
  • * 2000 , Felix Mann, Reinventing Acupuncture , page 109
    • 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.
  • To tease in order to provoke; to poke fun at.
    • Billy needled his sister incessantly about her pimples.
  • * 1984 , Leopold Caligor, Philip M. Bromberg, & James D. Meltzer, Clinical Perspectives on the Supervision of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy? , page 14
    • FRED: Well, I teased her to some extent, or I needled' her, not teased her. I ' needled her about—first I said that she didn't want to work, and then I think that there were a couple of comments.
  • To form in the shape of a needle.
    • to needle crystals

    Synonyms

    * (to tease) goad, tease

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words

    spindle

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (dialectal)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (spinning) A rod used for spinning and then winding natural fibres (especially wool), usually consisting of a shaft and a circular whorl positioned at either the upper or lower end of the shaft when suspended vertically from the forming thread.
  • A rod which turns, or on which something turns.
    • the spindle of a vane
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03
    • , author=(Henry Petroski) , title=Opening Doors , volume=100, issue=2, page=112-3 , magazine= citation , passage=A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle —being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place.}}
  • A rotary axis of a machine tool or power tool.
  • A worldwide tree of the genus Euonymus , originally used for making the spindles used for spinning wool.
  • An upright spike for holding paper documents by skewering.
  • The fusee of a watch.
  • A long and slender stalk resembling a spindle.
  • A yarn measure containing, in cotton yarn, 15,120 yards; in linen yarn, 14,400 yards.
  • (geometry) A solid generated by the revolution of a curved line about its base or double ordinate or chord.
  • Any marine univalve shell of the genus ; a (spindle stromb).
  • Any marine gastropod of the genus .

    • Synonyms

    * (a tree from the Euonymus genus) spindle tree

    Hypernyms

    * (a tree from the Euonymus genus) euonymus

    Verb

    (spindl)
  • To make into a long tapered shape.
  • To impale on a device for holding paper documents.
    • Do not fold, spindle or mutilate this document.

    Anagrams

    *

    External links

    * (Spindle) *