Nick
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
nick¹
- /nɪk/ US, UK
Sounds like nic, Nick · Rhymes with -ɪk
Where it comes from
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.
noun nicks
- A particular place or point considered as marked by a nick; the exact point or critical moment. in the nick of time
- 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
- 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 b
- 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 gaps
- 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.
- Often in the expressions in bad nick and in good nick: condition, state. The car I bought was cheap and in good nick.
- A police station or prison. He was arrested and taken down to Sun Hill nick [police station] to be charged.
verb nicks · nicking · nicked
- To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way. I nicked myself while I was shaving.
- 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?
- 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 deposit
- 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 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: […]
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 di
- To steal. Someone’s nicked my bike!
- To arrest. The police nicked him climbing over the fence of the house he’d broken into.
nick²
- /nɪk/ US, UK
Sounds like nic, Nick · Rhymes with -ɪk
Where it comes from
Clipping of nickname.
noun nicks
- Clipping of nickname.nickname a user’s reserved nick on an IRC network
verb nicks · nicking · nicked
- 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.
nick³
- /nɪk/ US, UK
Sounds like nic, Nick · Rhymes with -ɪk
Where it comes from
A variant of nix or nixie.
noun nicks
- 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
Nick⁴
- /nɪk/
Sounds like nic, nick · Rhymes with -ɪk
proper noun
- 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.'
