acicular

[ uh-sik-yuh-ler ]

/ əˈsɪk yə lər /

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See synonyms for acicular on Thesaurus.com

adjective

shaped like a needle.

Metallurgy.

(of cast iron) containing ferrite in a needlelike form.
(of an alloy) having a microstructure of needlelike components.

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Origin of acicular

First recorded in 1785–95; acicul(a) + -ar¹

OTHER WORDS FROM acicular

a·cic·u·lar·i·ty

[uh-sik-yuh-lar-i-tee], /əˌsɪk yəˈlær ɪ ti/, nouna·cic·u·lar·ly, adverb

Words nearby acicular

Achsah, Achtung, achy, ach-y-fi, acicula, acicular, aciculate, aciculum, acid, acid anhydride, acidanthera

How to use acicular in a sentence

Acicular, as-ik′ū-lar, adj. needle-shaped; slender and sharp-pointed.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)|Various
Spores of Bacidia fuscorubella to illustrate the several-celled, hyaline, acicular type.
Ohio Biological Survey, Bull. 10, Vol. 11, No. 6|Bruce Fink and Leafy J. Corrington
Not far from the shore, I noticed, in a little ravine, a group of eight acicular-leaved trees.
A Visit to the Holy Land, Egypt, and Italy|Ida Pfeiffer
Hyoscyamine crystallizes in the acicular form, with greater difficulty even than atropine, it also forms less compact crystals.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 324, March 18, 1882|Various

The obelisk is from another of Nature's patterns; it is only a gigantic acicular crystal.
Over the Teacups|Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.