Nail vs. Needle — What's the Difference?

A slim, pointed piece of metal hammered into material as a fastener.

A slender, pointed implement used for sewing or surgical suturing, made usually of polished steel and having an eye at one end through which a length of thread is passed and held.

A fingernail or toenail.

Any of various similar implements, such as a fine sharp-pointed instrument used in acupuncture or a pointed shaft used in knitting, crocheting, or lace making.

A claw or talon.

A sharp-pointed instrument used in engraving.

Something resembling a nail in shape, sharpness, or use.

A slender piece of jewel or steel used to transmit vibrations from the grooves of a phonograph record.

A measure of length formerly used for cloth, equal to 1/16 yard (5.7 centimeters).

A slender pointer or indicator on a dial, scale, or similar part of a mechanical device.

To fasten, join, or attach with or as if with a nail.

A magnetic needle.

To cover, enclose, or shut by fastening with nails

A hypodermic needle.

To keep fixed, motionless, or intent

(Informal) A hypodermic injection; a shot.

To stop and seize; catch

Chiefly Upper Northern US See dragonfly.

To detect and expose

A narrow stiff leaf, as of a pine or fir.

To strike or bring down

A fine, sharp projection, as a spine of a sea urchin or a crystal.

To perform successfully or have noteworthy success in

A tall narrow rock formation.

(Baseball) To put out (a base runner).

An obelisk.

Vulgar Slang To have sexual intercourse with.

(Informal) A goading, provoking, or teasing remark or act.

The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.

To prick, pierce, or stitch with a needle.

The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.

(Informal) To goad, provoke, or tease.

The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds.

To sew or do similar work with a needle.

The claw of a bird or other animal.

A long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing as in sewing, embroidery, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections, sutures, etc; or a blunt but otherwise similar implement used for forming loops or knots in crafts such as darning, knitting, tatting, etc.

A spike-shaped metal fastener used for joining wood or similar materials. The nail is generally driven through two or more layers of material by means of impacts from a hammer or other device. It is then held in place by friction.

Any slender, pointed object resembling a needle, such as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.

A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside The Exchange, Bristol.

A fine measurement indicator on a dial or graph.

An archaic English unit of length equivalent to 20 of an ell or 16 of a yard (4 inches or 5.715 cm).

(informal) A sensor for playing phonograph records, a phonograph stylus.

(transitive) To fix (an object) to another object using a nail.

A needle-like leaf found on some conifers.

(intransitive) To drive a nail.

A strong beam resting on props, used as a temporary support during building repairs.

(transitive) To stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails.

The death penalty carried out by lethal injection.

(slang) To catch.

(programming) A text string that is searched for within another string. (see: needle in a haystack)

To expose as a sham.

(entomology) Any of various species of damselfly of the genus Synlestes, endemic to Australia.

To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully.

To pierce with a needle, especially for sewing or acupuncture.

To hit (a target) effectively with some weapon.

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

Of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with.

(ambitransitive) To form, or be formed, in the shape of a needle.

(military) To spike, as a cannon.

A small instrument of steel, sharply pointed at one end, with an eye to receive a thread, - used in sewing.

(transitive) To nail down: to make certain, or confirm.

See Magnetic needle, under Magnetic.

The horny scale of plate of epidermis at the end of the fingers and toes of man and many apes.

A slender rod or wire used in knitting; a knitting needle; also, a hooked instrument which carries the thread or twine, and by means of which knots or loops are formed in the process of netting, knitting, or crocheting.

The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.

One of the needle-shaped secondary leaves of pine trees. See Pinus.

A slender, pointed piece of metal, usually with a head{2}, used for fastening pieces of wood or other material together, by being driven into or through them.

Any slender, pointed object, like a needle, as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.

A measure of length, being two inches and a quarter, or the sixteenth of a yard.

A hypodermic needle; a syringe fitted with a hypodermic needle, used for injecting fluids into the body.

To fasten with a nail or nails; to close up or secure by means of nails; as, to nail boards to the beams.

An injection of medicine from a hypodermic needle; a shot.

To stud or boss with nails, or as with nails.

To form in the shape of a needle; as, to needle crystals.

To fasten, as with a nail; to bind or hold, as to a bargain or to acquiescence in an argument or assertion; hence, to catch; to trap.

To tease (a person), especially repeatedly.

To spike, as a cannon.

To prod or goad (someone) into action by teasing or daring.

Horny plate covering and protecting part of the dorsal surface of the digits

To form needles; to crystallize in the form of needles.

A thin pointed piece of metal that is hammered into materials as a fastener

As of a conifer

A former unit of length for cloth equal to 1/16 of a yard

A slender pointer for indicating the reading on the scale of a measuring instrument

Attach something somewhere by means of nails;

A sharp pointed implement (usually steel)

Take into custody;

A stylus that formerly made sound by following a groove in a phonograph record

Hit hard;

Goad or provoke,as by constant criticism;

Succeed in obtaining a position;

Prick with a needle

Succeed at easily;

Locate exactly;

Complete a pass