Needle

n. [A-S. nædl, nēdl, O. Sax. nâdla, O. Fries. nedle, nidle, Goth. nēthla, O. H. Ger. nâdala, nâdila, nâdal, N. H. Ger. nadel, Icel. nál, Sw. nål, Dan. naal, D. naald, from O. H. Ger. nâjan, N. H. Ger. nähen, to sew.]

1. A small instrument of steel, sharply pointed at one end, with an eye at the other to receive a thread;—used in sewing.
2. A slender bar of steel, usually pointed, and resting on a vertical pivot, in a mariner’s, surveyor’s, or other compass, so as to turn freely toward the magnetic poles of the earth, by virtue of the magnetic polarity with which it has been artificially endued;—called also the magnetic needle.
3. Something in the form of a needle, as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, and the like.

Dipping-needle. See DIPPING-NEEDLE.—Needle-beam (Arch.), a cross floor-beam of a bridge resting on the girders.