A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr. Ireland indicates the uneven power dynamics involved when Leigh, though squirming at the idea, is needled into answering the same repulsive question, settling on Margaret Thatcher.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
Women on the jury bristled when Meta attorney Andrew Stanner needled Kaley’s former therapist over her credentials during a tense cross examination on Wednesday — “You have a master’s degree, right?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
During the session in 2017, he needled Rex Tillerson - urging him to describe Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal which Tillerson refused to do.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2025
In theaters, airplanes and performance spaces, I needled my companions by demanding specific aisle seats for legroom and faster escape.
From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2023
Then the planes flew high and needled into the sky that spread above them like a thin fabric.
From "Tasting the Sky" by Ibtisam Barakat
