needle gun

Needle \Nee"dle\ (n[=e]"d'l), n. [OE. nedle, AS. n[=ae]dl; akin
   to D. neald, OS. n[=a]dla, G. nadel, OHG. n[=a]dal,
   n[=a]dala, Icel. n[=a]l, Sw. n[*a]l, Dan. naal, and also to
   G. n[aum]hen to sew, OHG. n[=a]jan, L. nere to spin, Gr.
   ne`ein, and perh. to E. snare: cf. Gael. & Ir. snathad
   needle, Gael. snath thread, G. schnur string, cord.]
   1. A small instrument of steel, sharply pointed at one end,
      with an eye to receive a thread, -- used in sewing.
      --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: In some needles (as for sewing machines) the eye is at
         the pointed end, but in ordinary needles it is at the
         blunt end.
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   2. See {Magnetic needle}, under {Magnetic}.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
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   4. (Bot.) One of the needle-shaped secondary leaves of pine
      trees. See {Pinus}.
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   5. Any slender, pointed object, like a needle, as a pointed
      crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.
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   6. A hypodermic needle; a syringe fitted with a hypodermic
      needle, used for injecting fluids into the body.
      [Informal]
      [PJC]

   7. An injection of medicine from a hypodermic needle; a shot.
      [PJC]

   {Dipping needle}. See under {Dipping}.

   {Needle bar}, the reciprocating bar to which the needle of a
      sewing machine is attached.

   {Needle beam} (Arch.), in 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.

   {Needle furze} (Bot.), a prickly leguminous plant of Western
      Europe; the petty whin ({Genista Anglica}).

   {Needle gun}, a firearm loaded at the breech with a cartridge
      carrying its own fulminate, which is exploded by driving a
      slender needle, or pin, into it. [archaic]

   {Needle loom} (Weaving), a loom in which the weft thread is
      carried through the shed by a long eye-pointed needle
      instead of by a shuttle.

   {Needle ore} (Min.), acicular bismuth; a sulphide of bismuth,
      lead, and copper occuring in acicular crystals; -- called
      also {aikinite}.

   {Needle shell} (Zool.), a sea urchin.

   {Needle spar} (Min.), aragonite.

   {Needle telegraph}, a telegraph in which the signals are
      given by the deflections of a magnetic needle to the right
      or to the left of a certain position.

   {Sea needle} (Zool.), the garfish.
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