nip and tuck

nip and tuck adjective: so evenly matched that the advantage shifts from one to the other, and the outcome is uncertain.

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Adjective

nip and tuck (comparative more nip and tuck, superlative most nip and tuck)

(idiomatic) So evenly matched that the advantage shifts from one to the other, and the outcome is uncertain.
- It was nip and tuck with me between holding on to my stock and being sold out; but by great industry and prudence I managed to keep a little ahead and my mouth above water.1867 September, C. H. Webb, “My Mexican Mines”, in Harper's Magazine, volume XXXV, number CCVIII, page 461
- Bang! One saddle empty. Bang! another one. Bang—bang, and I bagged two. Well, it was nip and tuck with us, and I knew it.1889, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, New York, N.Y.: Charles L. Webster & Company, →OCLC

nip and tuck (comparative more nip and tuck, superlative most nip and tuck)

With the advantage of changing hands, or shifting back and forth among the available alternatives.
- A man told me that they was both admitted to practice in the S'preme Court in '39, on the same day, sir. Then you know they was nip an' tuck after the same young lady.1901 May, Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Crisis, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
- "I am glad I happened to reach him," he said, in an effort to relieve her embarrassment. "We had it nip and tuck," he added, lightly. "My lungs are lined with dust."1913, Will N. Harben, The Desired Woman

nip and tuck (plural nip and tucks or nips and tucks)

Minor cosmetic surgery that tightens loose skin.
- I watch the show where Paris Hilton and Nikki Ritchie^([sic]) live the simple life. […] It's makeovers, nip and tucks, and shopping sprees.2007, Joseph Natoli, This Is a Picture and Not the World: Movies and a Post-9/11 America, SUNY Press, →ISBN, page 252
Synonyms:

rhytidectomy, facelift

Across the open spaces we gained, and in the brush they caught up with us, and more than once it was nip and tuck.1906–1907, Jack London, chapter XII, in Before Adam:
Obama's road to the White House was far from assured during the 2008 primary season when he ran nip and tuck with McCain in early Gallup Poll trial heats for the general election.2009, Alec M. Gallup, Frank Newport, Gallup Poll: Public Opinion 2008, page 379:

Of unknown origin. First use appears c. 1845, in the publication American Whig Review.

What does nip and tuck mean?: Nip and tuck means so evenly matched that the advantage shifts from one to the other, and the outcome is uncertain.
How do you use nip and tuck in a sentence?: Across the open spaces we gained, and in the brush they caught up with us, and more than once it was nip and tuck.
What part of speech is nip and tuck?: Nip and tuck can be an adjective, an adverb or a noun.

Adapted from Wiktionary: nip and tuck (page history and authors). 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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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