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• nick
  nick

  noun

  a small notch, groove, chip, or the like, cut into or existing in something.
• Nick
  Nick

  noun

  Old Nick.

nick

¹ American  

[nik] / nɪk /

noun

• nicks
  plural

1. a small notch, groove, chip, or the like, cut into or existing in something.

2. a hollow place produced in an edge or surface, as of a dish, by breaking, chipping, or the like.

   I didn't notice those tiny nicks in the vase when I bought it.

3. a small dent or wound.

4. a small groove on one side of the shank of a printing type, serving as a guide in setting or to distinguish different types.

5. Biochemistry. a break in one strand of a double-stranded DNA or RNA molecule.

6. British Slang. prison.

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verb (used with object)

• nicks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• nicked,
  past participle,  past
• nicking
  present participle

1. to cut into or through.

   I nicked my chin while shaving.

2. to hit or injure slightly.

3. to make a nick or nicks in (something); notch, groove, or chip.

4. to record by means of a notch or notches.

5. to incise certain tendons at the root of (a horse's tail) to give it a higher carrying position; make an incision under the tail of (a horse).

6. to hit, guess, catch, etc., exactly.

7. Slang. to trick, cheat, or defraud.

   How much did they nick you for that suit?

8. British Slang.

   1. to arrest (a criminal or suspect).

   2. to capture; nab.

   3. to steal.

      Someone nicked her pocketbook on the bus.

idioms

1. in the nick of time, at the right or vital moment, usually at the last possible moment.

   The fire engines arrived in the nick of time.

Nick ² American  

[nik] / nɪk /

noun

1. Old Nick.

2. a male given name, form of Nicholas.

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nick ¹ British  

/ nɪk /

noun

1. a small notch or indentation on an edge or surface

2. a groove on the shank of a printing type, used to orientate type and often to distinguish the fount

3. a slang word for prison police station

4. informal in good condition

5. at the last possible moment; at the critical moment

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verb

1. (tr) to chip or cut

2. slang (tr)

   1. to steal

   2. to take into legal custody; arrest

3. informal to move or depart rapidly

4. to divide and reset (certain of the tail muscles of a horse) to give the tail a high carriage

5. (tr) to guess, catch, etc, exactly

6. (intr) (of breeding stock) to mate satisfactorily

7. slang to defraud someone to the extent of

nick ² British  

/ nɪk /

noun

1. computing an alias adopted by a member of a chatroom or forum; nickname

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nick More Idioms  

1. see in the nick of time.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unnicked
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• nicks
  plural

Participles

• nicking
  present
• nicked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• nick
  simple
• nicks
  simple
• have nicked
  perfect
• has nicked
  perfect
• am nicking
  progressive
• are nicking
  progressive
• is nicking
  progressive
• have been nicking
  perfect progressive
• has been nicking
  perfect progressive

Past

• nicked
  simple
• had nicked
  perfect
• was nicking
  progressive
• were nicking
  progressive
• had been nicking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will nick
  simple
• will have nicked
  perfect
• will be nicking
  progressive
• will have been nicking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of nick

1475–85; obscurely akin to Old English gehnycned wrinkled, Old Norse hnykla to wrinkle

Explanation

A nick is a tiny cut or scratch. Your neighbor might be so proud and protective of his brand new car that even a nick in its paint would be deeply upsetting to him. To make a nick is also to nick: you might accidentally nick your dog when you're cutting tangles and mats out of her fur, or nick yourself when you're gathering up pieces of a broken glass in the sink. Informally, you also nick someone when you cheat them out of some cash or nick something when you steal it. If help arrives "in the nick of time," it comes at the very last possible second.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nick Nick nicks nicked nicking

This should be a really good match and I think Paraguay will nick the win they need late on.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

"Ronnie looks in good nick and is hitting the ball well and seems confident so he could have a big say in this tournament," said four-time champion Higgins.

From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026

The country stored up 1.26 billion barrels of oil in the nick of time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026

It built up those reserves just in the nick of time.

From Barron's ● Mar. 4, 2026

I'm thinking nick nick nick, who the hell is nick?

From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan

Year: 2018 Compiled by: Nick Greene Of note: The English football star is now considering a career in American football.

From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026

Nick told BBC Your Voice that they were "absolutely delighted" to be going back.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Teams like Nick Saban’s Alabama dynasty stockpiled so much talent that the second-stringer would often outperform the player he was replacing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

Nick Reiner is asking a judge to give him access to a trust fund to pay for his legal defense on charges that he killed his parents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Instead I kept the burden for myself, and my friendship with Nick, already anemic, underfed and underused, dwindled in obsolescence.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Scott Boland bowled 74 deliveries to Root in the remaining three Tests of that series, conceded 39 runs and dismissed Root four times by consistently probing at that fuller length and finding nicks.

From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2025

Same goes for noting any damage, like nicks or scratches.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025

“A couple little nicks and bruises but nothing that’s going to keep anybody out,” McVay said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2024

“It makes it easier to go to work. It makes it easier to deal with the nicks, bruises and pains. We needed that. We still have a great opportunity at hand.”

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 14, 2022

Even from this distance, she could see the cuts and nicks on his scalp, and little strips of blond stubble in the places the razor had missed.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

Because the safety system is activated by contact, a finger may get nicked.

From BBC ● May 11, 2026

Imagine it like this: It is late in the evening of April 15, 1865, and Abraham Lincoln has survived an assassination attempt, the bullet aimed by John Wilkes Booth having merely nicked his now-bandaged scalp.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

Phil Salt also nicked off in the first over while Brook made 21, Jacob Bethell 21, Tom Banton 33 and Sam Curran 24 – all contributions but not match-defining scores.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026

To test the idea further, the researchers created "nicked" DNA, strands that were interrupted at specific points.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 9, 2026

He’s wearing a suit...even has a spot on his chin where he nicked himself shaving and left the little piece of tissue there “for effect.”

From "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone

The Cherries won the reverse fixture in October thanks to a late comeback, and I can see them nicking this one too.

From BBC ● May 7, 2026

And, of course, we’ve been in a reciprocal comedy arrangement with Britain — or at least we have been nicking their ideas for shows — for years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026

Instead this is the type of game where they will go and grind out a 'one-niller', by nicking a set-piece goal.

From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026

Harry Wilson has been excellent for them this season, but while I don't see them losing this, I don't see them nicking it either.

From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2025

As she scraped at the hide, nicking bits of meat and gristle from the surface, she began to get all empty and peculiar and faint inside.

From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich