Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DIP'PING-NEE-DLE, n.

A needle that dips; a magnetic needle which dips or inclines to the earth; an instrument which shows the magnetic inclination at the different points of the earth's surface. In the equatorial regions, the needle takes a horizontal position; but, as we recede from the equator toward either pole, it dips or inclines one end to the earth, the north end, as we proceed northward, and the south end, as we proceed southward, and the farther north or south we proceed, the greater is the dip or inclination. This is on the supposition that the poles of the earth and the magnetic poles coincide, which is not the case. The above statement is strictly true, only of the magnetic equator and its poles. – Cavallo. Cyc.