Needle vs. Spine — What's the Difference?

A slender, pointed implement used for sewing or surgical suturing, made usually of polished steel and having an eye at one end through which a length of thread is passed and held.

A series of vertebrae extending from the skull to the small of the back, enclosing the spinal cord and providing support for the thorax and abdomen; the backbone

Any of various similar implements, such as a fine sharp-pointed instrument used in acupuncture or a pointed shaft used in knitting, crocheting, or lace making.

The part of a book's jacket or cover that encloses the inner edges of the pages, facing outwards when the book is on a shelf and typically bearing the title and the author's name.

A sharp-pointed instrument used in engraving.

Any hard, pointed defensive projection or structure, such as a prickle of a hedgehog, a spike-like projection on a sea urchin, a sharp ray in a fish's fin, or a spike on the stem of a plant.

A slender piece of jewel or steel used to transmit vibrations from the grooves of a phonograph record.

A linear pay scale operated by some large organizations that allows flexibility for local and specific conditions.

A slender pointer or indicator on a dial, scale, or similar part of a mechanical device.

A tall mass of viscous lava extruded from a volcano

A magnetic needle.

The spinal column of a vertebrate.

A hypodermic needle.

(Zoology) Any of various pointed projections, processes, or appendages of animals.

(Informal) A hypodermic injection; a shot.

A strong, sharp-pointed outgrowth derived from a leaf or leaf part.

Chiefly Upper Northern US See dragonfly.

Any of various similar sharp structures, such as a thorn.

A narrow stiff leaf, as of a pine or fir.

The hinged back of a book.

A fine, sharp projection, as a spine of a sea urchin or a crystal.

The crest of a ridge.

A tall narrow rock formation.

Strength of character; courage or willpower.

An obelisk.

A series of bones situated at the back from the head to the pelvis of a human, or from the head to the tail of an animal, enclosing the spinal cord and providing support for the thorax and abdomen.

(Informal) A goading, provoking, or teasing remark or act.

(figurative) Courage or assertiveness.

To prick, pierce, or stitch with a needle.

Something resembling a backbone, such as a ridge, or a long, central structure from which other structures radiate.

(Informal) To goad, provoke, or tease.

The narrow, bound edge of a book that encloses the inner edges of the pages, facing outwards when the book is on a shelf and typically bearing the title and the author's and publisher's name.

To sew or do similar work with a needle.

A pointed, fairly rigid protuberance or needlelike structure on an animal, shell, or plant.

A long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing as in sewing, embroidery, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections, sutures, etc; or a blunt but otherwise similar implement used for forming loops or knots in crafts such as darning, knitting, tatting, etc.

(botany) The heartwood of trees.

Any slender, pointed object resembling a needle, such as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.

(neuroscience) dendritic spine.

A fine measurement indicator on a dial or graph.

A linear payscale operated by some large organizations that allows flexibility for local and specific conditions.

(informal) A sensor for playing phonograph records, a phonograph stylus.

(geology) A tall mass of viscous lava extruded from a volcano.

A needle-like leaf found on some conifers.

The stiffness of an arrow.

A strong beam resting on props, used as a temporary support during building repairs.

A sharp appendage to any of a plant; a thorn.

The death penalty carried out by lethal injection.

A rigid and sharp projection upon any part of an animal.

(programming) A text string that is searched for within another string. (see: needle in a haystack)

The backbone, or spinal column, of an animal; - so called from the projecting processes upon the vertebræ.

(entomology) Any of various species of damselfly of the genus Synlestes, endemic to Australia.

Anything resembling the spine or backbone; a ridge.

To pierce with a needle, especially for sewing or acupuncture.

The series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord;

(transitive) To tease in order to provoke; to poke fun at.

Any pointed projection

(ambitransitive) To form, or be formed, in the shape of a needle.

A sharp-pointed tip on a stem or leaf

A small instrument of steel, sharply pointed at one end, with an eye to receive a thread, - used in sewing.

A sharp rigid animal process or appendage; as a porcupine quill or a ridge on a bone or a ray of a fish fin

See Magnetic needle, under Magnetic.

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.

One of the needle-shaped secondary leaves of pine trees. See Pinus.

Any slender, pointed object, like a needle, as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.

A hypodermic needle; a syringe fitted with a hypodermic needle, used for injecting fluids into the body.

An injection of medicine from a hypodermic needle; a shot.

To form in the shape of a needle; as, to needle crystals.

To tease (a person), especially repeatedly.

To prod or goad (someone) into action by teasing or daring.

To form needles; to crystallize in the form of needles.

As of a conifer

A slender pointer for indicating the reading on the scale of a measuring instrument

A sharp pointed implement (usually steel)

A stylus that formerly made sound by following a groove in a phonograph record

Goad or provoke,as by constant criticism;

Prick with a needle