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needlelike

needlelike

1 4.9
Shaped like a long thin sharp needle
  • adjective
  • /ˈniːdəlˌlaɪk/
translation icon : en forma de aguja
  • The evergreen tree is characterized by its needlelike leaves that stay green throughout the year.

Examples

  • The border of a cypress dome consists of two species of St. John's-worts, six-foot-tall shrubs with needlelike leaves.

    Academic text (1991)
  • More than half of the phytoliths we observed were long and needlelike and could be attributed to the vegetative part of grasses, possibly bamboo.

    Academic text (1991)
  • The snow had resumed falling, needlelike, beating on us, clinging to our eyelashes, burning our skin with cold.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Somewhat shorter than these trees is the macaw palm, whose fifteen-foot-tall trunk is densely covered with black, needlelike spines.

    Academic text (1995)
  • These include needlelike spines, tough fibrous leaves, poisons, mimicry by nonpoisonous plants of poisonous ones, and leaves hidden inside a mass of woody twigs.

    Academic text (1990)
  • The common name of the plant is derived from its pungent odor and needlelike leaves; it is not related to culinary rosemary, and we suspect its addition to a pot of stew would be unpleasant or toxic.

    Academic text (1993)
  • The cactus had needlelike spines that made it difficult to touch.

  • She admired the needlelike tips of the pine branches as they swayed in the wind.

Synonyms

sharp
vsneedlelike
301 1.0

A thing with an edge that can cut or pierce

is about the exact slender ending shape rather than cutting ability
pointy
vsneedlelike
71 1.0

A thing with a sharp tip

is the more specific term for an extremely slender sharp ending
acute
vsneedlelike
4 4.8

Sharp in shape with an angle smaller than ninety degrees

emphasizes slenderness and a sharp ending rather than angle size
sharp-pointed
vsneedlelike
1 3.2

Having a very thin end that can prick or cut

emphasizes a very slender, pointed ending rather than general sharpness
pointed
vsneedlelike
1 1.8

Ending in a small sharp tip

stresses a very slender and sharp quality of the ending
needle-shaped
vsneedlelike
4.6

Long, thin, and pointed like a sewing pin

focuses on the ending being a sharp slender point rather than whole length
acicular
vsneedlelike
  • Specialized
9.9

Long, very thin, and pointed like a needle

refers specifically to the final sharp slender tip rather than whole form
acuate
vsneedlelike
9.9

A shape that narrows to a sharp point at the end

is about ending in a slender sharp point rather than just tapering
needly
vsneedlelike
  • Archaic
8.1

Thin and pointed like a needle

is a focused term for endings that are especially slender and sharp
arrowlike
vsneedlelike
4.1

A shape that is pointed, gets narrow, and ends in a sharp tip

focuses on a very thin tapered ending rather than arrow-style broad taper
arrowed
vsneedlelike
6.0

Shaped like a pointed tip that becomes narrow at one end

highlights an especially thin, slender tip rather than general tapering
pronglike
vsneedlelike
6.9

Having long thin points like a fork

is narrower and more slender at the ending than that projecting form
cuspidate
vsneedlelike
9.9

A leaf or part that ends in a sharp point

is slimmer and more tapered at the tip than that small curved point
bristle-pointed
vsneedlelike
7.0

With a small sharp tip like a stiff hair

is usually thinner and more delicately slender than a bristle tip

Antonyms

109 1.0

An object with a dull edge or tip that does not cut well

How Pointed

needlelike
1 4.9
pointed
1 1.8
blunt
109 1.0

Surface Forms

needlelike positive

Morphology

needlelike = needle (transparent) = needle + like

The adjective is a regular adjectival formation from the noun 'needle' with '-like', so its meaning is directly derivable.

Etymology

The word needlelike comes from joining needle and -like, where needle is the thin sewing tool and -like means 'similar'. So, needlelike describes something very thin and sharp, 'ending in a point like a needle'.