needle
n.— «There was, to use the sporting pros’ shorthand, needle—and plenty of it. The most famous incident came when Kosmina and then-Sydney coach Pierre Littbarski each let the other know exactly what they thought of them in the tunnel before the second leg of the semi-final.» —“Lazaridis will be ready for Socceroos” by Aaron Timms Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Aug. 8, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Need a slang term that can replace just about any noun? Try chumpie. If you’re from Philadelphia, you may already know this handy placeholder word. And there’s Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manhattan, and … The Bronx — why do we add...
When there’s no evening meal planned at home, what do you call that scramble to cobble together your own dinner? Some people apply acronyms like YOYO — “you’re on your own” — or CORN, for “Clean Out your Refrigerator...
The Macquarie Dictionary has related definitions for needle as other parts of speech: “adjective…Colloquial involving unpleasantness or aggression: a needle game” and “give the needle to, Colloquial to behave aggressively towards.”