dining needle n [Folk-etym for darning needle n 1] seNY Cf diamond needle n
A dragonfly n.
c1970 DARE File Long Is. NY, Dining needle. . . Dragon fly; Darning needle also used. 1980 NADS Letters sNY, Here on Long Island I often encounter the term dining needle for darning needle (“dragon fly”). 1982 Lang. in Society 11.413 seNY, In the New York area, there are three local terms for “dragon fly”: darning needle, dining needle, and diamond needle. Ibid 417, Our particular hypothesis, that darning needle moved to dining needle and then to diamond needle, is supported by the data. We suggested that the first movement might be facilitated by a combination of two factors. First of all, the phonological proximity of /ar/ and /ay/ in the dialect allows for misperception of the original term. Second, this original term may not be semantically motivated, a factor that would at least not discourage the misperception. 2017 in 2026 DARE File—Internet Long Is. NY, I used to call them dining needles lol. I never heard of dragonflies until My youngest daughter was little. Ibid, I always called the little ones dining needles, the big ones were dragonflies, I grew up on Canaan lake.