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nicker1

[nik-er]
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noun
  1. a person or thing that nicks.
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Origin of nicker1

First recorded in 1660–70; nick + -er1

nicker2

[nik-er]
verb (used without object), noun Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S.
  1. neigh.
  2. laugh; snicker.
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Origin of nicker2

1785–95; apparently variant of nicher, neigher, frequentative of neigh; see -er6

nicker3

[nik-er]
noun, plural nick·er·er, nick·ers for 1.
  1. British Slang. one pound sterling.
  2. Australian. money.
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Origin of nicker3

First recorded in 1905–10; perhaps special use of nicker1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for nicker

Historical Examples

  • If one of the seven animals we had should nicker, we were lost.

    With the Indians in the Rockies

    James Willard Schultz

  • Some knew it as the nicker tree, but the reason for the name is not known.

    American Forest Trees

    Henry H. Gibson

  • The Neck, or Nicker, has become quite a stranger in England.

  • For months he had not heard the sound of a human voice, nor the nicker of any horse other than his own.

    The Eye of Dread

    Payne Erskine

  • He called softly, but there came no nicker of response from the pony.

British Dictionary definitions for nicker

nicker1

verb (intr)
  1. (of a horse) to neigh softly
  2. to laugh quietly; snigger
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Word Origin

C18: perhaps from neigh

nicker2

noun plural -er
  1. British slang a pound sterling
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Word Origin

C20: of unknown origin
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 nicker

v.

"to neigh," 1774, of imitative origin (see neigh). Related: Nickered; nickering.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper