Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

pins and needles

 noun
     
Related topics: Illness and Disability
pins and needles [uncountable]
1MI an uncomfortable feeling, often in your foot or your leg, which you get especially when you have not moved part of your body for a long time, and the supply of blood has stopped flowing properly:
I'll have to move because I'm starting to get pins and needles in my foot.
2

be on pins and needles

American English to be very nervous and unable to relax, especially because you are waiting for something important [= be on tenterhooks]
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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