2. Necessary for supply or relief; requisite.
All things needful for defense abound. Dryden.
— Need"ful*ly, adv.
— Need"ful*ness, n.
NEEDILY
Need"i*ly, adv. Etym: [From Needy.]
Defn: In a needy condition or manner; necessarily. Chaucer.
NEEDINESS
Need"i*ness, n.
Defn: The state or quality of being needy; want; poverty; indigence.
NEEDLE
Nee"dle, n. Etym: [OE. nedle, AS. n; akin to D. neald, OS. nadla, G.
nadel, OHG. nadal, nadala, Icel. nal, Sw. nål, Dan. naal, and also to
G. nähen to sew, OHG. najan, L. nere to spin, Gr. 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.
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.
2. See Magnetic needle, under Magnetic.
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.