dining needle

English

Etymology

A misconstrual of darning needle (“dragonfly”).

Noun

dining needle (plural dining needles)

  1. (colloquial, rare) Alternative form of darning needle; a dragonfly.
    • 2007, Harvey Rothenstein, The Big Picture and the Adventures of Life, →ISBN, page 47:
      A dining needle went by as he fluttered his many wings.
    • 2013, Janet Holmes, An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, →ISBN:
      Words for dragonfly in the Eastern States include darning needle, mosquito hawk, spindle, snake feeder, snake doctor and snake waiter, but of these only darning needle is used in New York. From darning needle, however, New York has developed two new variants dining needle and diamond needle.
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