move the needle
/ˌmuːv ðə ˈniː.dəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.96 in modern English
22
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To change a situation to a noticeable degree; to make an appreciable difference.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Think Red Hots are a taste challenge? Or the Atomic Fireball is the ultimate tongue torture? They barely move the needle for confectionery connoisseurs."
- "How does a participant in a sector, or an entire sector for that matter, move the needle on climate change?"
- "“[G]iven Apple’s huge success and its sheer magnitude, it needs a monstrous new product or enhancement of an existing product to move the needle on growth.”"
- "A North Star Metric (NSM) allows everyone, irrespective of team status, to ask, “How is what I'm doing today helping move the needle on our NSM?”"
- "Speaking in January, OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, appeared dismissive of NYT’s relevance to its products. “Any one particular training source, it doesn’t move the needle for us that much,” he said."
Etymology
From the indicator needle of a measuring instrument such as a speedometer, dial indicator, etc; used both literally and figuratively.