nick

[nik] /nɪk/
noun
1.
a small notch, groove, chip, or the like, cut into or existing in something.
2.
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.
3.
a small dent or wound.
4.
a small groove on one side of the shank of a printing type, serving as a guide in setting or to distinguish different types.
5.
Biochemistry. a break in one strand of a double-stranded DNA or RNA molecule.
6.
British Slang. prison.
verb (used with object)
7.
to cut into or through:
I nicked my chin while shaving.
8.
to hit or injure slightly.
9.
to make a nick or nicks in (something); notch, groove, or chip.
10.
to record by means of a notch or notches.
11.
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).
12.
to hit, guess, catch, etc., exactly.
13.
Slang. to trick, cheat, or defraud:
How much did they nick you for that suit?
14.
British Slang.
  1. to arrest (a criminal or suspect).
  2. to capture; nab.
  3. to steal:
    Someone nicked her pocketbook on the bus.
Idioms
15.
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
1475-85; obscurely akin to Old English gehnycned wrinkled, Old Norse hnykla to wrinkle
Related forms
unnicked, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for in the nick of time

nick1

/nɪk/
noun
1.
a small notch or indentation on an edge or surface
2.
a groove on the shank of a printing type, used to orientate type and often to distinguish the fount
3.
(Brit) a slang word for prison, police station
4.
(informal) in good nick, in good condition
5.
in the nick of time, at the last possible moment; at the critical moment
verb
6.
(transitive) to chip or cut
7.
(transitive) (slang, mainly Brit)
  1. to steal
  2. to take into legal custody; arrest
8.
(informal) (intransitive) often foll by off. to move or depart rapidly
9.
to divide and reset (certain of the tail muscles of a horse) to give the tail a high carriage
10.
(transitive) to guess, catch, etc, exactly
11.
(intransitive) (of breeding stock) to mate satisfactorily
12.
(US & Canadian, slang) nick someone for, to defraud someone to the extent of
Word Origin
C15: perhaps changed from C14 nockenock

nick2

/nɪk/
noun
1.
(computing) an alias adopted by a member of a chatroom or forum; nickname
Word Origin
short for nickname
Word Origin and History for in the nick of time

nick

n.

"notch, groove, slit," late 15c., nyke, of unknown origin, possibly influenced by Middle French niche (see niche), or from it. Nick of time is first attested 1640s (nick of opportunity is 1610s), possibly from an old custom of recording time as it passed by making notches on a tally stick, though nick in the general sense of "critical moment" is older (1570s, Hanmer, who adds "as commonly we say") than the phrase.

v.

1520s, "to make a notch in," from nick (n.). Sense of "to steal" is from 1869, probably from earlier slang sense of "to catch, take unawares, arrest" (1620s). The precise sense connection is unclear. Related: Nicked; nicking.

Nick

masc. proper name, familiar form of Nicholas. As "the devil" by 1640s, but the reason for it is obscure.

Slang definitions & phrases for in the nick of time

nick

noun

nickel bag (1990s+ Narcotics)

verb
  1. To rob or steal: The bank is gonna be nicked (1869+)
  2. To charge; overcharge; exact: I think you can nick her for one fifty if you get tough (1921+)

Related Abbreviations for in the nick of time

NICK

Nickelodeon (cable television channel)
Idioms and Phrases with in the nick of time

in the nick of time

Also, just in time . At the last moment, as in The police arrived in the nick of time , or He got there just in time for dinner . The first term began life as in the nick and dates from the 1500s, when nick meant “the critical moment” (a meaning now obsolete). The second employs just in the sense of “precisely” or “closely,” a usage applied to time since the 1500s. Also see in time , def. 1.

nick

see: in the nick of time