different between needle vs speed

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

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spi?d/
• Rhymes: -i?d

Etymology 1

From Middle English spede (“prosperity, good luck, quickness, success”), from Old English sp?d (“luck, prosperity, success”), from Proto-West Germanic *sp?di (“prosperity, success”), from Proto-West Germanic *sp?an, Proto-Germanic *sp?an? (“to prosper, succeed, be happy”), from Proto-Indo-European *speh?- (“to prosper, turn out well”). Cognate with Scots spede, speid (“success, quickness, speed”), Dutch spoed (“haste; speed”), German Low German Spood (“haste; speed; eagerness; success”), German Sput (“progress, acceleration, haste”). Related also to Old English sp?wan (“to be successful, succeed”), Albanian shpejt (“to speed, to hurry”) and Russian ???????? (spešít?, “to hurry”), Latin sp?s (“hope, expectation”), sp?r? (“hope”, verb), perhaps also to Ancient Greek ?????? (speúd?, “to urge on, hasten, press on”).

Noun

speed (countable and uncountable, plural speeds)

1. The state of moving quickly or the capacity for rapid motion.

   Synonyms: celerity, rapidity, velocity

2. (mathematics, physics) The rate of motion or action, specifically the magnitude of the velocity; the rate distance is traversed in a given time.

   Hyponyms: lightspeed, speed of light, speed of sound

3. (photography) The sensitivity to light of film, plates or sensor.
4. (photography) The duration of exposure, the time during which a camera shutter is open (shutter speed).
5. (photography) The largest size of the lens opening at which a lens can be used.
6. (photography) The ratio of the focal length to the diameter of a photographic objective.
7. (slang, uncountable) Amphetamine or any amphetamine-based drug (especially methamphetamine) used as a stimulant, especially illegally.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:methamphetamine

8. (archaic) Luck, success, prosperity.
9. (slang) Personal preference.

10. (finance, uncountable) A third-order measure of derivative price sensitivity, expressed as the rate of change of gamma with respect to changes in the underlying asset price.

    Synonyms: DgammaDspot, gamma of the gamma

    Hypernym: Greeks

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

Units for measuring speed: metres/meters per second, m/s, kilometres/kilometers per hour, km/h (metric); knot, kt, kn (nautical); feet per second, ft/s, ft/sec and fps, miles per hour, mph (imperial and U.S. customary); mach (aeronautical)

Etymology 2

From Middle English speden, from Old English sp?dan (“to speed, prosper, succeed, have success”), from Proto-West Germanic *sp?dijan (“to succeed”). Cognate with Scots spede, speid (“to meet with success, assist, promote, accomplish, speed”), Dutch spoeden (“to hurry, rush”), Low German spoden, spöden (“to hasten, speed”), German sputen, spuden (“to speed”).

Verb

speed (third-person singular simple present speeds, present participle speeding, simple past and past participle sped or (mostly UK) speeded)

1. (intransitive, archaic) To succeed; to prosper, be lucky.
   • 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act V, Scene i^[1]:

     We have been praying for our husbands' healths,

     Which speed, we hope, the better for our words.

     Are they returned?

   • 18^thc., Oliver Goldsmith, Introductory to Switzerland

     At night returning, every labor sped, / He sits him down the monarch of a shed: / Smiles by his cheerful fire, and round surveys, / His children’s looks, that brighten at the blaze;

2. (transitive, archaic) To help someone, to give them fortune; to aid or favour.
   • with rising gales that sped their happy flight

3. (intransitive) To go fast.
4. (intransitive) To exceed the speed limit.

5. (transitive) To increase the rate at which something occurs.
   • 1982, Carole Offir & Carole Wade, Human sexuality, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, p.454:

     It is possible that the uterine contractions speed the sperm along.

   • 2004, James M. Cypher & James L. Dietz, The process of economic development, Routledge, p.359:

     Such interventions can help to speed the process of reducing CBRs and help countries pass through the demographic transition threshold more quickly […].

6. (intransitive, slang) To be under the influence of stimulant drugs, especially amphetamines.
   • 2008, Christos Tsiolkas, The Slap, Allen and Unwin, p.46:

     If Hector had not been speeding, it was possible that his next thought would have hurt: he loves his uncle unconditionally, in a way he will never love me.

7. (obsolete) To be expedient.
8. (archaic) To hurry to destruction; to put an end to; to ruin.
9. (archaic) To wish success or good fortune to, in any undertaking, especially in setting out upon a journey.
10. To cause to make haste; to dispatch with celerity; to drive at full speed; hence, to hasten; to hurry.

    • He sped him thence, home to his habitation.

11. To hasten to a conclusion; to expedite.
    • 1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon juris canonici Anglicani

      Judicial acts […] are sped in open court at the instance of one or both of the parties.

Usage notes

• The Cambridge Guide to English Usage indicates that sped is for objects in motion (the race car sped) while speeded is used for activities or processes, but notes that the British English convention does not hold in American English.
• Garner's Modern American Usage (2009) indicates that speeded is incorrect, except in the phrasal verb, speed up. Most American usage of speeded conforms to this.
• Sped is about six times more common in American English (COCA) than speeded. Sped is twice as common in UK English (BNC).

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:speed.

Derived terms

• speed up
• Godspeed

Translations

Anagrams

• Peeds, deeps, pedes, spede

French

Noun

speed m (plural speeds)

1. speed (amphetamine)