shooting-needle

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A blasting-needle; a metallic rod used in the tamping of a drill-hole, with the object of leaving a cavity through which the charge may be fired. It is kept in the hole while the tamping is being done, and withdrawn after that operation is completed. The general use of the safety-fuse has almost entirely done away with the old and more or less dangerous method in which the shooting-needle or pricker was employed. See needle, 3 . Also called nail.