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Glite Dictionary
to thread the needle

to thread the needle

3 7.6
To pass something carefully through a very small gap or to do a very precise and difficult action
  • idiom
translation icon : enhebrar la aguja
  • During the negotiation, the diplomat had to thread the needle between the two opposing parties to reach an agreement.
  • trying to thread the needle
  • think he threaded the needle
  • thread the needle here

But I could, I could thread the needle of science using these cherry picked studies.

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Examples

  • He had to carefully thread the needle to complete the elaborate embroidery design.

  • The liberals and their new king, Louis Philippe, somehow managed to thread the needle and preserve the peace.

  • And so they managed to thread the needle in that way.

    YaleCourses

  • We're gonna thread the needle.

    Flight (2012)

  • He had no choice but to try his best and thread the needle again.

  • It managed to thread the needle between confusing and boring.

  • Given the considerable forces arrayed against them, they threaded the needle on a very close run thing.

    Blog text (5)

  • Thread the needle!

    Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

  • This was an article by Steve Chapman; if it is true, that means that Republicans really have to thread the needle.

    Blog text (25)

  • Motorola is now trying to thread the needle and identify licensing terms that its demand letters did not specify (at least not in detail).

    Blog text (11)

Antonyms

to miss the mark
14 5.5

Fail to do what you meant to do

How Difficult

to chase rainbows
  • Informal
1 8.3
to thread the needle
3 7.6
to pull off
301 4.1

Surface Forms

thread the needle infinitive
threaded the needle past
threaded the needle past participle
threading the needle present participle
threads the needle third person singular

Morphology

thread + the + needle

The literal meaning — passing a thread through the eye of a needle — is directly and transparently derived from 'thread' + 'needle' and will be clear to a B1 learner who knows the words. The figurative sense (accomplishing a delicate or difficult task) is a metaphorical extension of that literal precision; this relation is partly predictable and supported by similar metaphors in other languages, so it is not fully transparent but often inferable from context.

Etymology

Thread the needle comes from sewing: you must pass a thin thread through the tiny eye of a needle, which needs a very steady hand and careful aim. So thread the needle means 'to do a very careful or difficult job' or to find a narrow way between two problems.