Old Nick

American

noun

Informal.

the devil; Satan.

Old Nick British

noun

informal a jocular name for Satan

"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

Etymology

Origin of Old Nick

First recorded in 1660–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It’s been so long since civilization collapsed that Sir Lord Jimmy’s followers will believe anything, even his tales about being the son of the Devil, whom he calls “Old Nick.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Broad Branch is one of a few distilleries trying to curb the shortage of hygiene products, and at least one of two in the Triad with Old Nick Williams Farm and Distillery in Lewisville.

From Washington Times

Their best answer to date is the other “goblin metal” closely associated with cobalt, nickel, whose name comes from a German spirit closely related to Old Nick.

From Economist

The outside of Old Nick’s is unprepossessing and the inside only a little better.

From The Guardian

His deputy called him diabolus bibliothecae, “the devil of the library”; others referred to him simply as Old Nick.

From The New Yorker

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023