English · Idiom Candidate

on pins and needles

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Feeling extremely anxious or nervous

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Cảm thấy cực kỳ lo lắng hoặc紧张

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: sitting on sharp points

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

I've been on pins and needles waiting for the exam results

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent nhấp nhổm (adjective) worried (esp. while sitting down); anxious; uneasy; being on tenterhooks; being on pins and needles Tiếng Việt

Common questions

What does “on pins and needles” mean?

Feeling extremely anxious or nervous Literally: sitting on sharp points

Is “on pins and needles” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“nhấp nhổm” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.