nickel-and-dime

[ nik-uh l-uh n-dahym ]

/ ˈnɪk əl ənˈdaɪm /

Informal.

adjective

of little or no importance; trivial; petty: a nickel-and-dime business that soon folded.

verb (used with object), nick·el-and-dimed or nick·eled-and-dimed, nick·el-and-dim·ing or nick·el·ing-and-dim·ing.

to expose to financial hardship or bankruptcy by the accumulation of small expenses, bills, etc.: We're being nickel-and-dimed to death by these small weekly expenses.

to hinder, annoy, or harass with trivialities or nonessentials: to be nickeled-and-dimed by petty criticisms.

Content related to nickel-and-dime

Why Do “Left” And “Right” Mean Liberal And Conservative?During election seasons the words left and right denote political affiliation more than spatial direction. But where do these associations come from? The left hand has long been associated with deviance. The word “sinister” originally meant “to the left” in Latin. The word “left” comes from the Old English word lyft, which literally meant “weak, foolish.” To avoid the negative and superstitious associations of the …

Words related to nickel-and-dime

lesser, narrow-minded, frivolous, minor, little, slight, scratch, shallow, inessential, lower, base, peanut, light, small, subordinate, secondary, junior, inferior, trifling, shoestring

Words nearby nickel-and-dime

nickel oxide, nickel plate, nickel silver, nickel steel, nickel tetracarbonyl, nickel-and-dime, nickel-cadmium battery, nickel-plate, nickelic, nickelic oxide, nickeliferous

Origin of nickel-and-dime

First recorded in 1965–70