n.a humorous
reference to an extremely large hypodermic
needle. Hypodermic means under the skin and a hypodermic
needle consists of a hollow cylinder that is filled with medication or
drugs, and a plunger that when pushed down forces the medication or
drugs through a hollow
needle (pressed under the skin) and into the
subject receiving the
shot. The
standard size of such a
needle used to give injections into a muscle for
example is forty millimeters (approximately 1.5 inches). For more
information, see TWENTY-TWO
GAUGE (
GRADE, ETC.)
NEEDLE.