nick

n. [ Akin to Nock. ] 1. A notch cut into something; as: (a) A score for keeping an account; a reckoning. [ Obs. ] (b) (Print.) A notch cut crosswise in the shank of a type, to assist a compositor in placing it properly in the stick, and in distribution. W. Savage. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: A broken or indented place in any edge or surface; as, nicks in a china plate; a nick in the table top. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A particular point or place considered as marked by a nick; the exact point or critical moment. [ 1913 Webster ]

To cut it off in the very nick. Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]

This nick of time is the critical occasion for the gaining of a point. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. nicor a marine monster; akin to D. nikker a water spite, Icel. nykr, ONG. nihhus a crocodile, G. nix a water sprite; cf. Gr. ni`ptein to wash, Skr. nij. Cf. Nix. ] (Northern Myth.) An evil spirit of the waters. [ 1913 Webster ]

Old Nick, the evil one; the devil. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To nickname; to style. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

For Warbeck, as you nick him, came to me. Ford. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ . (Bot.) Same as Nicker nut, Nicker tree. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ G., fr. Sw. nickel, abbrev. from Sw. kopparnickel copper-nickel, a name given in derision, as it was thought to be a base ore of copper. The origin of the second part of the word is uncertain. Cf. Kupfer-nickel, Copper-nickel. ] 1. (Chem.) A bright silver-white metallic element of atomic number 28. It is of the iron group, and is hard, malleable, and ductile. It occurs combined with sulphur in millerite, with arsenic in the mineral niccolite, and with arsenic and sulphur in nickel glance. Symbol Ni. Atomic weight 58.70. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ On account of its permanence in air and inertness to oxidation, it is used in the smaller coins, for plating iron, brass, etc., for chemical apparatus, and in certain alloys, as german silver. It is magnetic, and is very frequently accompanied by cobalt, both being found in meteoric iron. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A small coin made of or containing nickel; esp., a five-cent piece. [ Colloq. U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Nickel silver, an alloy of nickel, copper, and zinc; -- usually called german silver; called also argentan. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Trivial; unimportant; petty; as, nickel-and-dime criticisms. [ informal ] [ PJC ]

2. Involving only small amounts of money; small-time; as, a nickel-and-dime business operation. [ informal ] [ PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. nickel-and-dimed or nickeled-and-dimed p. pr. & vb. n. nickel-and-diming or nickeling-and-diming. ] 1. To harass or annoy with petty demands or for trivial reasons; specifically, to insist on minor concessions in a negotiation. [ PJC ]

2. To weaken or impair gradually or by small steps; as, to be nickel-and-dimed into bankruptcy by the operating overhead. [ informal ] [ PJC ]

a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or containing, nickel; specifically, designating compounds in which, as contrasted with the nickelous compounds, the metal has a higher valence; as nickelic oxide. [ 1913 Webster ]