nick
nounEtymology
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.
- inherited from nik
Definitions
A small cut in a surface.
- in the nick of time
- […] 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.
Senses connoting something small.
Often in the expressions in bad nick and in good nick
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.
- […]considering they've abused their bodies with everything from M and G to crystal meth over the course of the last day or so, some longer, they look in pretty good nick.
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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.
- I recall too that the chats in the back of the [police] van weren't too bad as they dispatched me to the nick.
To make a nick or notch in
To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way.
- I nicked myself while I was shaving.
To fit into or suit, as by a correspondence of nicks
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.
To make a cut at the side of the face.
To steal.
- Someone’s nicked my bike!
To arrest.
- The police nicked him climbing over the fence of the house he’d broken into.
- [...] I was always getting nicked when I was a junkie, so I've had my fair share of skirmishes with the law.
Clipping of nickname.
- a user’s reserved nick on an IRC network
- /nick Changes your nickname—the name by which other IRCers see and refer to you—to anything you'd like (but remember that nine characters is the maximum nick length).
- Also, ERC, like Emacs, is extremely modular and flexible. It is, of course, a free software program, but there are also many existing modules from nick highlighting to autoaway that you can use.
To give or call (someone) by a nickname
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.
A nix or nixie (“water spirit”).
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.'
The neighborhood
- neighborpernickety
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for nick. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA