different between jolly vs needle

English

Etymology

From Middle English joli, jolif (“merry, cheerful”), from Old French joli, jolif (“merry, joyful”)It is uncertain whether the Old French word is from Old Norse jól ("a midwinter feast, Yule", hence "fest-ive") , in which case, equivalent to yule +? -ive; or ultimately from Latin gaude? (see etymology at joy). For the loss of final -f compare tardy, hasty, hussy, etc.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?d??li/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?d??li/
• Rhymes: -?li
• Hyphenation: jol?ly

Adjective

jolly (comparative jollier, superlative jolliest)

1. Full of merriment and high spirits; jovial; joyous; merry.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, "The Faerie Queene", Book I, Canot 2, xi-xii:

     "Full jolly Knight he seemed […] full large of limb and every joint / He was, and cared not for God or man a point."

   • 1815, William Wordsworth, "Hart-Leap Well," Part Second:

     "A jolly place," said he, "in times of old! / But something ails it now: the spot is curst. ..."

   • 1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., "The Stage Coach":

     […] he is swelled into jolly dimensions by frequent potations of malt liquors […]

2. (colloquial, dated) Splendid, excellent, pleasant.
   • 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, ch. 16:

     Jo silently notices how white and small her hand is and what a jolly servant she must be to wear such sparkling rings.

3. (informal) drunk

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

jolly (plural jollies)

1. (Britain, dated) A pleasure trip or excursion.
2. (slang, dated) A marine in the English navy.

   Synonym: joey

   • 1896, Rudyard Kipling, Soldier an' Sailor Too

     I'm a Jolly — 'Er Majesty's Jolly — soldier an' sailor too!

Adverb

jolly (comparative more jolly, superlative most jolly)

1. (Britain, dated) very, extremely
   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 37:

     Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’

Derived terms

• jolly well

Verb

jolly (third-person singular simple present jollies, present participle jollying, simple past and past participle jollied)

1. (transitive) To amuse or divert.

Derived terms

• jolly along

Translations

References

• Jolly in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 15, p. 495.

Italian

Etymology

From English jolly joker, an older name for the joker card in a deck of cards.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d???l.li/

Noun

jolly m (invariable)

1. (card games) joker
2. wild card

See also

English

Etymology

From Middle English nedle, from Old English n?dl, from Proto-West Germanic *n?þlu, from Proto-Germanic *n?þl?, from pre-Germanic *neh?-tleh?, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh?- (“to spin, twist”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?ni?.dl/
• Rhymes: -i?d?l

Noun

needle (plural needles)

1. A fine, sharp implement usually for piercing such as sewing, or knitting, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections, etc.

2. Any slender, pointed object resembling a needle, such as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.
3. A fine measurement indicator on a dial or graph, e.g. a compass needle.

4. A sensor for playing phonograph records, a phonograph stylus.

5. A needle-like leaf found on some conifers.
6. A strong beam resting on props, used as a temporary support during building repairs.
7. (informal, usually preceded by the) The death penalty carried out by lethal injection.
8. (programming) A text string that is searched for within another string. (see: needle in a haystack)
9. (entomology) Any of various species of damselfly of the genus Synlestes, endemic to Australia.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• acerate
• eye
• pin

Verb

needle (third-person singular simple present needles, present participle needling, simple past and past participle needled)

1. To pierce with a needle, especially for sewing or acupuncture.
   • 1892, H. Lindo Ferguson, "Operation on Microphthamlmic Eyes", Ophthalmic Review, volume 11, page 48

     […] the eyes were once more beginning to show the old nystagmus; so I decided to needle the cataracts, and on Jan. 31 I needled the right eye.

   • 2000, Felix Mann, Reinventing Acupuncture, page 109

     Possibly the greatest effect is achieved in the hand by needling the thumb, the index finger and the region of the 1st and 2nd metacarpal.

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

   Billy needled his sister incessantly about her pimples.

   • 1984, Leopold Caligor, Philip M. Bromberg, & James D. Meltzer, Clinical Perspectives on the Supervision of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, page 14

     FRED: Well, I teased her to some extent, or I needled her, not teased her. I needled her about—first I said that she didn't want to work, and then I think that there were a couple of comments.

   • 2015 Carl Gleba, "Megaverse in Flames", Rifts World Book 35

     To needle Lady Leviathan, Hel has convinced her husband to agree to the heartful offer.

3. (transitive, intransitive) To form, or be formed, in the shape of a needle.

   to needle crystals

Synonyms

• (to tease): goad, tease

Translations

Anagrams

• Edelen, ledene, lendee