acicular

[ uh-sik-yuh-ler ]

/ əˈsɪk yə lər /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR acicular ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

shaped like a needle.

Metallurgy.

(of cast iron) containing ferrite in a needlelike form.
(of an alloy) having a microstructure of needlelike components.

Origin of acicular

First recorded in 1785–95; acicul(a) + -ar¹

OTHER WORDS FROM acicular

a·cic·u·lar·i·ty

[uh-sik-yuh-lar-i-tee], /əˌsɪk yəˈlær ɪ ti/, nouna·cic·u·lar·ly, adverb

Words nearby acicular

Achtung, achy, ach-y-fi, achylia, acicula, acicular, aciculate, aciculum, acid, acidaminuria, acid anhydride

Example sentences from the Web for acicular

Acicular, as-ik′ū-lar, adj. needle-shaped; slender and sharp-pointed.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)|Various
Valve very narrow, lanceolate, acicular, with obtuse apices.
The Diatomaceae of Philadelphia and Vicinity|Charles Sumner Boyer
Soon Birdie and myself were a mass of acicular crystals; it was a true easterly fog.
Celebrated Women Travellers of the Nineteenth Century|W. H. Davenport Adams
Spores of Bacidia fuscorubella to illustrate the several-celled, hyaline, acicular type.
Ohio Biological Survey, Bull. 10, Vol. 11, No. 6|Bruce Fink and Leafy J. Corrington

Crystals are prismatic, acicular or scaly in habit; they have a perfect cleavage parallel to the brachypinacoid (M in the figure).
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3|Various