On the point of an upright needle he laid horizontally a fine steel bar, which could turn to the right and left like the magnetic needle in a compass-box..

他在一根垂直的针头顶点，设置了一根水平的钢制细棍，它可以左右转动，就像罗盘里的磁针那样。

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I have been in a lady's work-box, "said the darning-needle, and this lady was the cook."

我曾经在一位小姐的匣子里住过，“织补针说，”这位小姐是一个厨子。

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Stefansson sought the predisposing genes among Icelandic patients because their richly documented family trees and homogeneous genetic inheritance made the task as easy as looking for a needle in a box of needles.

FORBES: Profitable pedigree

An anomaly is a simple drawing by Martin Puryear for "Box and Pole, " his first major sculpture (a 52-inch cube next to a 100-foot needle, both carved in wood), installed at Artpark in 1977.

WSJ: Wish You Were Here | Albright-Knox | They Shuffled Off to Buffalo | By Richard B. Woodward