nip and tuck

Cultural  

1. Closely contested; neck and neck: “It was nip and tuck there for a while, but our team finally pulled through.”

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nip and tuck Idioms  

1. Very close so that the advantage or lead of competitors keeps shifting, as in It was nip and tuck whether they would deal with the bill before Congress adjourned. The precise allusion in this term has been lost. [Early 1800s] Also see neck and neck.

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Example Sentences

“We’ve been nip and tuck on some things, but we’ve always had the same interest and same goal in mind, and that’s winning,” Millsap said at that time of Snyder.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 25, 2021

It was nip and tuck in the final, Robertson getting bogged down with muddled shot selections at times, but he kept himself together tremendously well in the closing stages.

From BBC • Dec. 6, 2020

All of this year’s iPhones had a little nip and tuck along the edges.

From Washington Post • Oct. 14, 2020

The Music Center gets a nip and tuck, and a critic visits a half-empty LACMA.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 24, 2019

It was now nip and tuck who had the fastest horses.

From Four Years A Scout and Spy by Downs, E. C.