thread the needle

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English

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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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.
    • 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:
      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.
    • 2021 September 6, Zack Handlen, “Rick And Morty ends its fifth season looking for an escape hatch”, in AV Club[1]:
      It was likely any resolution was going to seem like an anti-climax, and I thought this reveal threaded the needle quite well.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:thread the needle.

Noun

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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.

Synonyms

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