different between worry vs needle

English

Etymology

From Middle English worien, werien, wirien, wirwen, wyry?en (“to choke, strangle”), from Old English wyr?an, from Proto-Germanic *wurgijan?, from Proto-Indo-European *wer??- (“bind, squeeze”). Cognate with Dutch worgen, wurgen, German würgen. Compare Latin urgere (“to press, push”), Sanskrit ????? (v?hati, “to tear out, pluck”), Lithuanian ver?žti (“to string; squeeze”), Russian (poetic) ?????????? (otverzát?, “to open”, literally “to untie”). Related to wring.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General New Zealand, General Australian) IPA^(key): /?w??i/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?w??i/, /?w?i/
• (General New Zealand, General Australian, non-standard) IPA^(key): /?w??i/
• (West Country, nonstandard) IPA^(key): /?w???i/
• (accents without the "Hurry-furry" merger)
• (accents with the "Hurry-furry" merger)
• Rhymes: -?ri

Homophone: wurry

Verb

worry (third-person singular simple present worries, present participle worrying, simple past and past participle worried)

1. (intransitive) To be troubled; to give way to mental anxiety or doubt.

2. (transitive) Disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress.

3. (transitive) To harass; to irritate or distress.

4. (transitive) To seize or shake by the throat, especially of a dog or wolf.
5. (transitive) To touch repeatedly, to fiddle with.
   • 1997, David Sedaris, "A Plague of Tics", Naked, page 15:

     So what if I wanted to touch my nose to the windshield? Who was it hurting? Why was it that he could repeatedly worry his change and bite his lower lip without the threat of punishment?

   • 2002, Masha Hamilton, Staircase of a Thousand Steps, page 272:

     No stories, no arguments. He just worries his prayer beads.

6. (transitive, obsolete, Scotland) To strangle.
   • 1891, Journal of Jurisprudence and Scottish Law Magazine (1891), Execution of the Judgment of Death, page 397:

     We read (Law's Memor. Pref. lix.) that "one John Brugh, a notorious warlock (wizard) in the parochin of Fossoquhy, by the space of thirty-six years, was worried at a stake and burned, 1643."

Synonyms

• (trouble mentally): fret

Derived terms

• beworry
• worried

Translations

Noun

worry (countable and uncountable, plural worries)

1. A strong feeling of anxiety.

2. An instance or cause of such a feeling.

3. A person who causes worry.

Derived terms

• worrisome
• worryful
• worryless

Translations

Scots

Verb

worry

1. (transitive) To strangle.

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