nick

[ nik ]

/ nɪk /

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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.

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Idioms for nick

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

OTHER WORDS FROM nick

un·nicked, adjective

Definition for nick (2 of 2)

Nick

[ nik ]

/ nɪk /

noun

Old Nick.

a male given name, form of Nicholas.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for nick

After six years at Turner, Witherspoon, Anders and Tyler, Attorneys at Law, Nick thought she might’ve achieved partner, but no.
‘Big Tow’ has action, humor, and a lesbian romance|Terri Schlichenmeyer|December 11, 2020|Washington Blade
Having grown up with a single dad in a low-income household, she trusted Nick’s know-how over her own.
The coming war on the hidden algorithms that trap people in poverty|Karen Hao|December 4, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Nick would max it out with $5,000 worth of business purchases and promptly pay it off the next day.
The coming war on the hidden algorithms that trap people in poverty|Karen Hao|December 4, 2020|MIT Technology Review
In 2008, Nick and I took an American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education Level 1 avalanche course, and I got a pair of bulky alpine touring bindings for cheap, mounting them on an old pair of skis my friend Mitsu sold me for $100.
Skiing Up and Down Mount Shasta|Brendan Leonard|December 3, 2020|Outside Online

“It really seems like we got there just in the nick of time,” Sven-Erik Spichiger, an entomologist at the Washington State Department of Agriculture who oversaw the process, said during a news conference Tuesday.
A nest filled with hundreds of ‘murder hornets’ was destroyed ‘just in the nick of time,’ officials say|Teo Armus|November 12, 2020|Washington Post
Nothing vital has been damaged, but a major artery was nicked.
New 'Suspended Animation' Procedure Saves Lives by Replacing Blood with a Cold Electrolyte Solution|Elizabeth Lopatto|April 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The dishes troubled her, they were so thick and nicked in so many places, that it was difficult to find one which was whole.
The Cromptons|Mary J. Holmes
When she had finished they discovered that one of her six bullets had just nicked the edge of the paper.
The Adventure Girls at K Bar O|Clair Blank
I hadn't been hit so badly; just bullet shock and a nicked shoulder to keep me in bed for a couple of days.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
"I should have been in peril of having my ear nicked," he said, under his breath, as he crossed the threshold.
The Doomsman|Van Tassel Sutphen
For safety, glass tops that have become chipped or nicked on the edges that fit the jar should be replaced by perfect ones.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 5|Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

British Dictionary definitions for nick (1 of 2)

nick¹

/ (nɪk) /

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

British Dictionary definitions for nick (2 of 2)

nick²

/ (nɪk) /

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

Idioms and Phrases with nick

nick

see in the nick of time.

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