magnetic needle

magnetic needle

n. A slender bar of magnetized steel usually suspended on a low-friction mounting and used in various instruments, especially in the magnetic compass, to indicate the direction of the earth's magnetic poles.

magnetic needle

n (General Physics) a slender magnetized rod used in certain instruments, such as the magnetic compass, for indicating the direction of a magnetic field

magnet′ic nee′dle

n. a slender magnetized steel rod that when adjusted to swing in a horizontal plane, as in a compass, indicates the direction of the earth's magnetic fields. [1840–50]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

magnetic needle - a slender magnet suspended in a magnetic compass on a mounting with little friction; used to indicate the direction of the earth's magnetic polemagnet - (physics) a device that attracts iron and produces a magnetic fieldmagnetic compass - compass based on an indicator (as a magnetic needle) that points to the magnetic north