nick

¹ American  

[nik] / nɪk /

noun

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)

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

• unnicked adjective

Etymology

Origin of nick

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

Example Sentences

That's very good and has helped me be in the nick I'm in and, touch wood, be pretty good with injuries this year.

From BBC • Mar. 21, 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

A construction vehicle toppling, with its driver escaping a life-changing accident by jumping out just in the nick of time as Disney himself talks up how there have been very few accidents.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026

The nick wasn’t large, but the hatchet was important to him, was his only tool, and he should not have thrown it.

From "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen