needle
verb/ˈniːdl/
/ˈniːdl/
(informal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they needle | /ˈniːdl/ /ˈniːdl/ |
| he / she / it needles | /ˈniːdlz/ /ˈniːdlz/ |
| past simple needled | /ˈniːdld/ /ˈniːdld/ |
| past participle needled | /ˈniːdld/ /ˈniːdld/ |
| -ing form needling | /ˈniːdlɪŋ/ /ˈniːdlɪŋ/ |
- needle somebody to deliberately annoy somebody, especially by criticizing them continuously synonym antagonize
- Don't let her needle you.
- He knew Jo was trying to needle him into losing his temper.
Word OriginOld English nǣdl, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch naald and German Nadel, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin nere ‘to spin’ and Greek nēma ‘thread’.Definitions on the go
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needle