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One of the needlelike or bristlelike spines or prickles of some animals and plants; also, a needlelike crystal.

Needle-shaped; slender like a needle or bristle, as some leaves or crystals; also, having sharp points like needless. A*cic"u*lar*ly, adv.

Marked with fine irregular streaks as if scratched by a needle. Lindley.

Needle-shaped; acicular.

Needle ore. Brande & C.

Shaped like a needle.

Without inclination or dipping; -- said the magnetic needle balances itself horizontally, having no dip. The aclinic line is also termed the magnetic equator. Prof. August.

Sharpness or acuteness, as of a needle, wit, etc.

rhage resulting from wounds or surgical operations, by passing under the divided vessel a needle, the ends of which are left exposed externally on the cutaneous surface. Simpson.

Pricking with a needle; a needle prick. Specifically (Med.):

The twisting of an artery with a needle to arrest hemorrhage.

our first parent. -- Adam's flannel (Bot.), the mullein (Verbascum thapsus). -- Adam's needle (Bot.), the popular name of a genus (Yucca) of liliaceous plants.

mmon practice to adjourn the reformation of their lives to a further time. Barrow. 'Tis a needful fitness That we adjourn this court till further day. Shak.

Microörganisms which live in contact with the air and need oxygen for their growth; as the microbacteria which form on the surface of putrefactive fluids.

an imaginary line on the earth's surface passing through those places where the magnetic needle points to the true north; the line of no magnetic variation. There is one such line in the Western hemisphere, and another in the Eastern hemisphere.

A needle-shaped peak.

One prone to sound or excite alarms, especially, needless alarms. Macaulay.

A kind of verse consisting in English of twelve syllables. The needless Alexandrine ends the song, That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along. Pope.

modation, conformity, relation, or proportion to; to correspond to; to suit. Weapons must needs be dangerous things, if they answered the bulk of so prodigious a person. Swift.

A hydrocarbon, C6H4.C2O2.C6H4, subliming in shining yellow needles. It is obtained by oxidation of anthracene.