You are "on pins and needles" when you are very nervous about something happening. Example: "There had been a rumor that someone was going to get fired, but we didn't know who it would be; so the whole office was on pins on needles all day." You are "on pins and needles" when you feel as if you were walking with pins and needles "on" the floor beneath your feet; if you made one wrong step you might get stuck painfully by the pins and needles! Example: "Dad is doing the taxes today and it has him in such a bad mood that our whole family is on pins and needles." When you are "on pins and needles" you feel nervous or worried that something bad might happen. Example: "Jean was on pins and needles the whole time her father was in the hospital."