Word.ws English Dictionary

nick

/nɪk/UK/nɪk/

nick noun: a particular place or point considered as marked by a nick; the exact point or critical moment. Also the clipping of nickname.

Noun (1)

nick (plural nicks)

  1. (archaic) A particular place or point considered as marked by a nick; the exact point or critical moment.
    • in the nick of time
    • When I imagin man fraughted with al the commodities may be wiſhed; […] I finde him to ſinke vnder the burthen of his eaſe, and perceive him altogether vnable to beare ſo pure, ſo conſtant, and ſo vniverſall a ſenſualitie. Truely he flies when he is even vpon the nicke, and naturally haſtneth to...1603, Michel de Montaigne, “We Taste Nothing Purely”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 389
  2. (dated) A notch cut crosswise in the shank of a type, to assist a compositor in placing it properly in the stick, and in distribution.
    • A nick is a hollow cast crossways in the shanks of types, to make a distinction readily between differnt sorts and sizes; and to enable the compositor to perceive quickly the bottom of the letter as it lies in the case, when composing; as nicks are always cast on that side of the shank on which the...1841, William Savage, “NICK”, in A Dictionary of the Art of Printing, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 543
    • The types are of the usual thickness and height. In the centre of each type, in the front, is a deep nick of a dovetail shape, which fits upon a metal edge, so that the type cannot be displaced. But of 111 letters which are required in the fount, each letter has two, three, or four other nicks cut...1862, International Exhibition, 1862. Jurors’ Reports, London: Bell and Daldy, […], →OCLC, class XXVIII, section C (Plate, Letterpress, and Other Modes of Printing), page 3
  3. A small deflection of the ball off the edge of the bat, often going to the wicket-keeper for a catch.
    • Just as a judge may mistakenly believe in the credibility of a clever liar, thereby reaching an 'incorrect decision', an umpire dealing with the blur of a fast bowler and listening for a nick of the bat, or lifting his eyes quickly from the bowler's front foot to follow the flight and pitch of the...2005, David Fraser, “The Man in White is Always Right (but He is Not Always Neutral)”, in Cricket and the Law: The Man in White is Always Right, Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Routledge...
  4. One of the single-stranded DNA segments produced during nick translation.
    • Analysis of the effect of temperature on the polymerization reaction with nicked and gapped DNA substrates in Mn²⁺ (8) [...] reveals identical values of activation energy (Eₐ) and Q₁₀, indicating that the frequency of productive interactions of polymerase β with 3′-hydroxyl termini at nicks and...1981, David Korn, Paul A. Fisher, Teresa S.-F. Wang, “Mechanisms of Catalysis of Human DNA Polymerases α and β”, in Waldo E. Cohn, editor, Progress in Nucleic Acid Research and Molecular Biology...
    • The double-stranded insert and linearized vector are denatured, and the resulting single strands of DNA anneal with their overlapping ends and extend using each other as a template to form double-stranded circular plasmids with only two nicks, one on each single strand. [...] Lastly, the nicks are...2015, Lesley-Ann Giddings, David J. Newman, “Activating the Expression of Natural Product Biosynthetic Gene Clusters”, in Bioactive Compounds from Extremophiles: Genomic Studies, Biosynthetic Gene...
  5. (real tennis) The point where the wall of the court meets the floor.
    • Spin is a major feature of real tennis – because of it, some of the slowest shots can be the hardest to return. [...] Strokes played into the "nick" (the corner of the floor and the wall) and aggressive drives into the dedans, the winning gallery, or the grille are unreturnable.2013 September, “Racket Sports”, in Ray Stubbs (editorial consultant), Ed Wilson, editors, The Sports Book: The Sports, the Rules, the Tactics, the Techniques, 4th edition, London: Dorling...
  6. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial) Often in the expressions in bad nick and in good nick: condition, state.
    • The car I bought was cheap and in good nick.
    • [F]urther south in Kent, there was St. Mildred, whose mother [Domne Eafe], in 670, founded the minster that still stands there in good nick, with nine nuns who are an ever-present help in trouble to all religions and none.2014 July 20, Jane Gardam, “Give us a bishop in high heels [print version: ‘Give us a high-heeled bishop’, International New York Times, 22 July 2014, page 11]”, in The New York Times, archived from...
  7. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, slang) A police station or prison.
    • He was arrested and taken down to Sun Hill nick [police station] to be charged.
    • He’s just been released from Shadwell nick [prison] after doing ten years for attempted murder.

Verb (1)

nick (third-person singular simple present nicks, present participle nicking, simple past and past participle nicked)

  1. (transitive) To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way.
    • I nicked myself while I was shaving.
    • This man pauses in his shaving to squint at the piece of paper again, razor hesitant, eye returning anxious but reluctant to the blurred letters. [...] He nicks himself and the tired blood trickles a moment, stops easily these days almost before the cotton-wool sticks.1974, Thea Astley, A Kindness Cup, Melbourne, Vic.: Thomas Nelson Australia, →ISBN; republished Sydney, N.S.W.; Melbourne, Vic.: Allen & Unwin House of Books, 2012, →ISBN, pages 1–2
    1. (transitive) To make ragged or uneven, as by cutting nicks or notches in; to deface, to mar.
      • The itch of his Affection ſhould not then / Haue nickt his Captain-ſhip, at ſuch a point, / When halfe to halfe the world oppos'd, he being / The meered queſtion?c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
      • But, give him port and potent ſack, / From milkſop he ſtarts up Mohack; / Holds that the happy know no hours; / So through the ſtreets at midnight ſcowers, / Breaks watchmen's heads and chairmen's glaſſes, / And thence proceeds to nicking ſaſhes; […]c. 1715–1717, Matthew Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind. In Three Cantos”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior, Esq. […], Edinburgh: Printed by Mundell and Son, […], published 1793...
    2. (rare, transitive) To make a crosscut or cuts on the underside of (the tail of a horse, in order to make the animal carry it higher).
      • The barbarous custom of docking and nicking the tail, and cutting the ears of horses, is too prevalent. [...] [I]n the loss of their tail, they find even a still greater inconvenience. During summer they are perpetually teazed with swarms of insects that either attempt to suck their blood or...1815, Henry Bracken, “Receipts. To Cure the Grease, Surfeits, Loss of Appetite, Cough, Shortness of Breath; to Purify the Blood, and to Fatten Tired and Wasted Horses. [Additional Information.]”, in...
      • Nicking a horse has been generally believed to be attended with much difficulty, and to require great ingenuity and art to perform the operation. The nicking alone, is by far the easiest part, as the curing and pullying requires considerable attention and trouble. Nicking is an operation performed...1830, Richard Mason, “Nicking”, in The Gentleman’s New Pocket Farrier, Comprising a General Description of the Noble and Useful Animal the Horse; […], 5th edition, Richmond, Va.: Printed by Peter...
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To fit into or suit, as by a correspondence of nicks; to tally with.
    • An Alluſion is as it were a dalliance or playing with words, like in ſound, vnlike in ſense, by changing, adding, or ſubtracting a letter or two; ſo that words nicking and reſembling one the other, are appliable to diffrent ſignifications.1605, M. N. [pseudonym; William Camden], “Allusions”, in Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine, […], London: […] G[eorge] E[ld] for Simon Waterson, →OCLC, page 140
    1. (figuratively, obsolete, sometimes, transitive) To hit at, or in, the nick; to touch rightly; to strike at the precise point or time.
      • [I]t requires a Critical Nicety both of Wit, and of Judgment, to find out the Genius, or the Propenſions, of a Child, […] The Juſt Seaſon of Doing Things must be Nick'd, and All Accidents Obſerv'd and Improv'd; for Weak Minds are to be as Narrowly Attended, as Sickly Bodies: […]1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables of Æsop, &c.] Fab[le] XXXVIII. A Horse and an Asse. [Reflexion].”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC...
    2. (obsolete, transitive) To hit the ball with the edge of the bat and produce a fine deflection.
      • Two balls later, I nick one and it carries beautifully to Peter Bowler at first slip, a complete dolly catch, and he drops it.2013, Ian Botham, with Dean Wilson, “Steve James – Fine Dining”, in Beefy’s Cricket Tales: My Favourite Stories from On and Off the Field, London: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 145
    3. (obsolete, transitive) To throw or turn up (a number when playing dice); to hit upon.
      • My old luck: I never nick'd ſeven that I did not throw ames ace three times following.1773, [Oliver] Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer: Or, The Mistakes of a Night. A Comedy. […], London: […] F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC, Act III, page 63
      • The points to nick each main have been mentioned before, and the table on dice will show how many chances there are to throw each of these points with 2 dice, which together form the numerator, and 36 (being all the chances on 2 dice) the denominator of the fraction that expresses the probability....[1814], William Rouse, “Problem XXX. What are the Probabilities of Nicking each Main?”, in The Doctrine of Chances, or The Theory of Gaming, Made Easy to Every Person Acquainted with Common...
  3. (transitive) To make a cut at the side of the face.
    • A practice then prevailed of blasting without nicking the side of the place which still continues and of conducting the current of air too far by means of brattice, to both of which practices I raised a strong objection. They admitted their inability to make the men nick the coal as they formerly...1872 February 28, Peter Higson, “[Mines. Reports of the Inspectors of Mines, to Her Majesty’s Secretary of State, for the Year 1871. Chapter 653.] Report of the Working of the Mines Inspection Act...
  4. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial, transitive) To steal.
    • Someone’s nicked my bike!
    • As I'm on the ground, my bat and one of the stumps are grabbed out of my hands. [...] At that point, I look up and see Adrian [Dale] – with two stumps in his hands! Hugh [Morris] has given him one and his brother Gary, who is a policeman, has seen the bloke who nicked it off me and wrestled it off...2013, Ian Botham, with Dean Wilson, “Steve James – Fine Dining”, in Beefy’s Cricket Tales: My Favourite Stories from On and Off the Field, London: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, pages 145–146
  5. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, slang, transitive) To arrest.
    • The police nicked him climbing over the fence of the house he’d broken into.
    • Flick knives were pulled on us, and the group demanded we give them all our money, and passports and everything else we had. [...] They [the police] had nicked the knife gang, (who had stayed there, beating the shit out of Nick), and found our passports.2012, T. Appleby, “Die in Dunkirk or Somewhere in France”, in Life in the Harsh Lane: The Nine Lives, Mishaps, and Adventures of a No-body, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 113

Verb (2)

nick (third-person singular simple present nicks, present participle nicking, simple past and past participle nicked)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To give or call (someone) by a nickname; to style.
    • For Warbecke as you nicke him, came to me / Commended by the States of Chriſtendome.1634, [John Ford], The Chronicle Historie of Perkin Warbeck. A Strange Truth. […], London: Printed by T[homas] P[urfoot, Jr.] for Hugh Beeston, […], →OCLC; republished as A Chronicle History of...

Noun (2)

nick (plural nicks)

  1. (archaic) A nix or nixie (“water spirit”).
    • [A]midst Ahriman and his hosts who had now established themselves in the Occident, and as heirs to the horns and tails of Pans and fauns, a crowd of native spirits moved; imps, giants, trolls, forest-spirits, elves and hobgoblins in and on the earth; nicks, river-sprites in the water, fiends in the...1879, Viktor Rydberg, “The Magic of the People and the Struggle of the Church against It”, in August Hjalmar Edgren, transl., The Magic of the Middle Ages: Translated from the Swedish, New York...

Proper noun capitalized: Nick

Nick

  1. A diminutive of the male given name Nicholas.
    • His name is Nick. I love it. It makes him seem nice, and regular, which he is. When he tells me his name, I say, 'Now, that's a real name.'2012, Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl, Phoenix, published 2013, →ISBN, pages 14–15
    • You look at the groypers, you look at Nick Fuentes, you look at people who are by any measure white supremacists and people we would have called the kooky Nazi right, with their Pepe the Frog memes — they all felt very ill at home in Mitt Romney’s Republican Party.2025 August 1, Ezra Klein, “Behind Trump and Vance Is This Man’s Movement”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 01 Aug 2025

Also used as

nick is also the clipping of nickname.

nick meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

nick in Hindi

निक, निक्

nick in Tamil

நிக்

nick in Marathi

निक, निक्

nick in Urdu

نک
More languagesFewer languages
nick in Bengali
নিক, নিক্, নিকের কাছে
nick in Telugu
నిక్, నిక్కు
nick in Malayalam
നിക്ക്, നിക്
nick in Kannada
ನಿಕ್
nick in Punjabi
ਨਿਕ, ਨਿੱਕ, ਨਿਕ ਤੱਕ
nick in Gujarati
નિક, નિક્, નિકને
nick in Odia
ନିକ୍, ନିକ
nick in Nepali
निक, निक्
nick in Thai
จิ๊ก jík

Examples of nick in a sentence

  • Truely he flies when he is even vpon the nicke, and naturally haſtneth to eſcape it, as from [a] ſtep whereon he cannot ſtay or containe himſelfe, and feareth to ſinke into it.1603, Michel de Montaigne, “We Taste Nothing Purely”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for...
  • […] ſuffred the fatall threed to bee ſpunne out to that length for ſome politique reſpects, and then to cut it off in the very nicke.1640, I. H. [i.e., James Howell], “A Character of Lvrana”, in ΔΕΝΔΡΟΛΟΓΊΑ [DENDROLOGIA]. Dodona’s Grove, or, The Vocall Forrest, London...
  • When, in the very nick / Of giving up, one time more, came a click / As when a trap shuts – you're inside the den!1856, Robert Browning, “‘Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.’”, in Men and Women, author’s edition, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields...
  • A great deal of inconvenience frequently arises, owing to the founders casting different founts of types with a similar nick in each.1841, William Savage, “NICK”, in A Dictionary of the Art of Printing, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 543:

All 40 example sentences with nick

Forms of nick

Noun
pluralnicks
Verb
third-person singular presentnicks
present participlenicking
past participlenicked
pastnicked

Past tense of nick: nicked

Plural of nick: nicks

Origin of nick

The noun is derived from Late Middle English nik (“notch, tally; nock of an arrow”). Its further etymology is unknown; a connection with nock (“notch in a bow to hold the bowstring; notch at the rear of an arrow that fits the bowstring; cleft in the buttocks”) has not been clearly established. The verb appears to be derived from the noun, though the available evidence shows that some of the verb senses predate the noun senses. No connection with words in Germanic languages such as Danish nikke (“to nod”), Middle Dutch nicken (“to bend; to bow”) (modern Dutch knikken (“to nod”)), Middle Low German nicken (“to bend over; to sink”), Middle High German nicken (“to bend; to depress”) (modern German nicken (“to nod”)), Middle Low German knicken (“to bend; to snap”) (modern German knicken (“to bend; to break”), Old Frisian hnekka (“to nod”), and Swedish nicka (“to nod”), has been clearly established.

Clipping of nickname.

A variant of nix or nixie.

Words formed from nick

Phrases with nick

Words that rhyme with nick

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about nick

What does nick mean?
Nick means a particular place or point considered as marked by a nick; the exact point or critical moment.
What is nick in Hindi?
Nick in Hindi is निक, निक्. See Nick meaning in Hindi.
How do you use nick in a sentence?
Truely he flies when he is even vpon the nicke, and naturally haſtneth to eſcape it, as from [a] ſtep whereon he cannot ſtay or containe himſelfe, and feareth to ſinke into it.
What part of speech is nick?
Nick can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce nick?
Nick is pronounced /nɪk/ (UK).
What is the plural of nick?
The plural of nick is nicks.

Words near nick in the dictionary

  1. Nichters
  2. Nichula
  3. NICI
  4. nicing
  5. nicish
  6. nick
  7. Nick & Nora
  8. Nick & Noras
  9. Nick and Nora
  10. nick of time
  11. nick off

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: nick (page history and authors); Nick (page history and authors); nick (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nick (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nick (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nick (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nick (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nick (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nick (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nick (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nick (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nick (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nick (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); nick (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-nick.ogg, en-au-nick.ogg.

Cite this entry: “nick.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nick. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.