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View synonyms for pins and needles

pins and needles

noun

  1. a tingly, prickly sensation in a limb that is recovering from numbness.


pins and needles

noun

  1. a tingling sensation in the fingers, toes, legs, etc, caused by the return of normal blood circulation after its temporary impairment
  2. on pins and needles
    in a state of anxious suspense or nervous anticipation
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of pins and needles1

First recorded in 1800–10
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. on pins and needles, in a state of nervous anticipation:

    The father-to-be was on pins and needles.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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