nick

[nik]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR nick ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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.

a small dent or wound.

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

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

British Slang. prison.

verb (used with object)

to cut into or through: I nicked my chin while shaving.

to hit or injure slightly.

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

to record by means of a notch or notches.

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).

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

Slang. to trick, cheat, or defraud: How much did they nick you for that suit?

British Slang.

to arrest (a criminal or suspect).
to capture; nab.
to steal: Someone nicked her pocketbook on the bus.

Idioms

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.

Origin of nick

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

Related formsun·nicked, adjective

Nick

[nik]

noun

Old Nick.

a male given name, form of Nicholas.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for nick

knock, cut, indent, dent, damage, mark, slit, score, dint, jag, mill, notch, scar

Examples from the Web for nick

Contemporary Examples of nick

The incident sparked his belief in Santa, but he would have to wait nearly two decades before dressing up as Jolly St. Nick.
Kerry Bentivolio: The Congressman Who Believes in Santa Claus
Ben Jacobs
December 24, 2014
Internet media entrepreneur Nick Denton is a person to whom harsh judgments adhere like barnacles.
The Gospel According to Nick Denton—What Next For The Gawker Founder?
Lloyd Grove
December 14, 2014
For Nick Offerman, of Parks and Recreation, the one is a thing: whiskey.
Swimming Owls, Jane Krakowski’s Peter Pan Live! Audition, and More Viral Videos
The Daily Beast Video
December 7, 2014
“The majority of it goes to Nick and Owen, to the company,” former RSD instructor Kole told me.
The Secret World of Pickup Artist Julien Blanc
Brandy Zadrozny
December 1, 2014
Pointing out that Nick Denton writes and speaks like a literate adult and not like a 14-year-old in remedial English.
Rage Against GamerGate’s Hate Machine: What I Got For Speaking Up
Arthur Chu
November 17, 2014

Historical Examples of nick

Well done Nick, and the divil a betther could it be said if I said it myself.
Ridgeway
Scian Dubh
The case of Nick, although sore enough in its way, was not so heartrending as that of Kate.
Ridgeway
Scian Dubh
Young Nick's Hattie was forty-five, but she looked much younger.
Tiverton Tales
Alice Brown
Mr. Cruncher, with some diffidence, explained himself as meaning "Old Nick's."
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
There was a time when Twigger would have replied, ‘Well, Nick!’
The Mudfog and Other Sketches
Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for nick

nick

noun

a small notch or indentation on an edge or surface

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

British a slang word for prison, police station

in good nick informal in good condition

in the nick of time at the last possible moment; at the critical moment

verb

(tr) to chip or cut

(tr) slang, mainly British

to steal
to take into legal custody; arrest

(intr often foll by off) informal to move or depart rapidly

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

(tr) to guess, catch, etc, exactly

(intr) (of breeding stock) to mate satisfactorily

nick someone for US and Canadian slang to defraud someone to the extent of

Word Origin for nick

C15: perhaps changed from C14 nocke nock

nick

noun

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

Word Origin for nick

short for nickname

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nick

"notch, groove, slit," late 15c., nyke, of unknown origin, possibly influenced by Middle French niche (see niche), or from it. Nick of time is first attested 1640s (nick of opportunity is 1610s), possibly from an old custom of recording time as it passed by making notches on a tally stick, though nick in the general sense of "critical moment" is older (1570s, Hanmer, who adds "as commonly we say") than the phrase.

1520s, "to make a notch in," from nick (n.). Sense of "to steal" is from 1869, probably from earlier slang sense of "to catch, take unawares, arrest" (1620s). The precise sense connection is unclear. Related: Nicked; nicking.

Nick

masc. proper name, familiar form of Nicholas. As "the devil" by 1640s, but the reason for it is obscure.

Idioms and Phrases with nick

nick

see in the nick of time.