"thread the needle" meaning in All languages combined

See thread the needle on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Audio: En-au-thread the needle.ogg
Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} thread the needle (uncountable)
  1. A game in which children stand in a row, joining hands, and in which the outer one, still holding their neighbor, runs between the others. Tags: uncountable Synonyms: thread needle
    Sense id: en-thread_the_needle-en-noun-MwKG2qxj Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 86 14 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 85 15 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 92 8

Verb [English]

Audio: En-au-thread the needle.ogg Forms: threads the needle [present, singular, third-person], threading the needle [participle, present], threaded the needle [participle, past], threaded the needle [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} thread the needle (third-person singular simple present threads the needle, present participle threading the needle, simple past and past participle threaded the needle)
  1. (idiomatic) To manage to find harmony or strike a balance between conflicting forces, interests, etc. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-thread_the_needle-en-verb-9fbLecaI

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "threads the needle",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "threading the needle",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "threaded the needle",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "threaded the needle",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "thread the needle (third-person singular simple present threads the needle, present participle threading the needle, simple past and past participle threaded the needle)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2010, James C. Foster, Bong Hits 4 Jesus: A Perfect Constitutional Storm in Alaska's Capital, University of Alaska Press, published 2010, →ISBN, page 215:",
          "text": "Were I writing for the Court, I would seek to thread the needle between acknowledging Principal Morse's authority, on the one hand, while respecting student Frederick's rights, on the other.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 September 6, Zack Handlen, “Rick And Morty ends its fifth season looking for an escape hatch”, in AV Club:",
          "text": "It was likely any resolution was going to seem like an anti-climax, and I thought this reveal threaded the needle quite well.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To manage to find harmony or strike a balance between conflicting forces, interests, etc."
      ],
      "id": "en-thread_the_needle-en-verb-9fbLecaI",
      "links": [
        [
          "harmony",
          "harmony"
        ],
        [
          "strike a balance",
          "strike a balance"
        ],
        [
          "conflicting",
          "conflicting"
        ],
        [
          "forces",
          "forces"
        ],
        [
          "interests",
          "interests"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To manage to find harmony or strike a balance between conflicting forces, interests, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-thread the needle.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b8/En-au-thread_the_needle.ogg/En-au-thread_the_needle.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/En-au-thread_the_needle.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "thread the needle"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "thread the needle (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "86 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "85 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "92 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A game in which children stand in a row, joining hands, and in which the outer one, still holding their neighbor, runs between the others."
      ],
      "id": "en-thread_the_needle-en-noun-MwKG2qxj",
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "thread needle"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-thread the needle.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b8/En-au-thread_the_needle.ogg/En-au-thread_the_needle.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/En-au-thread_the_needle.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "thread the needle"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "threads the needle",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "threading the needle",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "threaded the needle",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "threaded the needle",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "thread the needle (third-person singular simple present threads the needle, present participle threading the needle, simple past and past participle threaded the needle)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2010, James C. Foster, Bong Hits 4 Jesus: A Perfect Constitutional Storm in Alaska's Capital, University of Alaska Press, published 2010, →ISBN, page 215:",
          "text": "Were I writing for the Court, I would seek to thread the needle between acknowledging Principal Morse's authority, on the one hand, while respecting student Frederick's rights, on the other.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 September 6, Zack Handlen, “Rick And Morty ends its fifth season looking for an escape hatch”, in AV Club:",
          "text": "It was likely any resolution was going to seem like an anti-climax, and I thought this reveal threaded the needle quite well.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To manage to find harmony or strike a balance between conflicting forces, interests, etc."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "harmony",
          "harmony"
        ],
        [
          "strike a balance",
          "strike a balance"
        ],
        [
          "conflicting",
          "conflicting"
        ],
        [
          "forces",
          "forces"
        ],
        [
          "interests",
          "interests"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To manage to find harmony or strike a balance between conflicting forces, interests, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-thread the needle.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b8/En-au-thread_the_needle.ogg/En-au-thread_the_needle.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/En-au-thread_the_needle.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "thread the needle"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "thread the needle (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A game in which children stand in a row, joining hands, and in which the outer one, still holding their neighbor, runs between the others."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-thread the needle.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b8/En-au-thread_the_needle.ogg/En-au-thread_the_needle.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/En-au-thread_the_needle.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "thread needle"
    }
  ],
  "word": "thread the needle"
}

Download raw JSONL data for thread the needle meaning in All languages combined (3.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (bb46d54 and 0c3c9f6). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.