| 释义 |
▪ I. nick, n.1|nɪk|
Also 5 nyke, 6 nycke, 6–7 nicke, 7 nic, nike, 8 knick.
[Of obscure origin: appears earlier than the corresponding verb, but may be derived from it.]
I.
1. a. A notch, groove, or slit, cut into, or present in, something; an incision or indentation.
1483Cath. Angl. 255/1 A Nyke, tenus. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §4 Somme plowes haue a bende of yron..that hath thre nyckes on the farther syde. 1578Banister Hist. Man i. 32 Departyng from this corner, or deepe nicke,..there riseth a certaine sharpe Processe. 1609C. Butler Fem. Mon. (1634) 118 It is best..in the edges on both sides, to cut little nicks. 1688Holme Armoury ii. 68/2 The leaf 5 pointed, each cut with deep nicks, almost jagged. 1753Bartlet Farriery 332 Holes must be made at certain distances in the groove,..and a nick cut to receive the billet from the strap. 1769Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 303 Fill one nick with chopped parsley, the second with fat pork,..and so on till you have filled all your nicks. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 15 A nick is made in the wood or bone, to keep the work from being carried aside by the file. 1847Le Fanu T. O'Brien 170 Deepening a nick with his penknife in the counter. 1888S. R. Bottone Electr. Instr. Making §41 With a file, a nick is cut in this steel rod.
b. In various special applications (see quots.).
1562Turner Herbal ii. (1568) 166 The sede layd to..swageth the payne of the nickes or ryuinge of the fundamente. 1637Suckling Aglaura ii. i, Like the string of a watch wound up too high, and forc'd above the nicke. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) II. 260 [He] has a different Humour for every Nick his drink rises to. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 351/1 The Notch or Nick in the Arrow for the Bowstring to go in. 1791Young's Annals Agric. XVI. 567 (E.D.D.), Instead of this ridge the new Leicester sheep are now breeding to have a furrow there, which is called the knick. 1841Penny Cycl. XXI. 109/1 After which the nick, or groove [in a screw-head] to receive the end of the screw⁓driver, is cut with a circular saw. 1842Lower Eng. Surnames (1875) II. App. 156 A nick is the mark cut in the mandible of a swan to distinguish its ownership.
c. Printing. A notch made on one side of the shank of a type, serving as a guide to the compositor in setting; † the part of the mould by which this is made.
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xv. ⁋8 In the upper half of the Mold..is fitted into the under side of the Body the Nick: It is made of a piece of Wyer. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VII. 381/1 This wire, or rather half-wire, in the upper part makes the nick in the shank of the letter. 1824J. Johnson Typogr. II. 6 The advantage to be derived from letter having a deep nick, and also that the nick should differ from other founts of that body. 1882Southward Pract. Printing 11 The nick..distinguishes between letters of an equal size but of a different description.
d. Squash and Real Tennis. (See quot. 1961.)
1890J. M. Heathcote et al. Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Rackets, Fives i. iv. 69 When the odds of touch-no-walls..are given, a ball returned by the giver of odds, which makes a nick, is counted for the striker. 1926C. Arnold Handbk. on Squash Rackets iii. 34 Winners can also be made by what is known as a dead service nick, the ball being made to meet the back or side wall and the floor at the same time. 1961J. S. Salak Dict. Amer. Sports 296 Nick (court tennis)—the junction of the wall and the floor, or a return when the ball, as it drops or falls, touches the wall and the floor simultaneously. 1963Times 8 Jan. 3/5 This Binns did with his usual touch strokes, boasting with precision and, on his forehand drops, turning his racket over like a butterfly net to impart top spin and make the ball die in the nick. 1973R. Hawkey Beginner's Guide Squash iv. 41 One must avoid..allowing a service to drop into the ‘nick’ between the back wall and the floor.
2. a. A notch used as a means of keeping a score; hence, † reckoning, account.
1483Cath. Angl. 255/1 A Nyke of a tayle, epimeridia. 1530Palsgr. 644/1, I make nyckes on a tayle, or on a stycke. 1587Churchyard Worth. Wales (1876) 86 O fathers wise, and wits beyond the nicke. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. iv. ii. 76 He lou'd her out of all nicke. 1611Cotgr., Hoche, a nicke, or notch, on a Tallie, etc. 1887Rider Haggard Allan Quatermain iv, A number of little nicks, each nick representing a man killed in battle. 1891Kipling Light that Failed (1900) 34 That's another nick in the score. I'll jostle you later on.
b. One of the depressions between the rings which form on the horns of cattle, and afford some indication of their age. Also fig.
1788Picken Poems (1813) I. 156 (E.D.D.), May..ilka new nick on her horn Some added pleasure yield her. c1810Cromek in Burns' Wks. (1838–9) 62 It was his common practice to cut the nicks or markings from the horns of cattle, to disguise their age. 1862A. Hislop Prov. Scot. 192 There's ower mony nicks in your horn. That is, you are too knowing or cunning for me.
3. A gap in a range of hills.
1793Carlop Green (1817) 112 Ending in a swelling know, Formed by King Charlie's Nick. 1860Sir J. P. Kay-Shuttleworth Scarsdale I. 117 The drivers of strings of gals [Galloway ponies] with lime sacks o'er the nick of Pendle. 1883Stevenson Silverado Sq. 66 There in the nick just where the foothills joined the mountain..was Silverado.
4. A cut; the act of cutting.
a1816Wolcot (P. Pindar) Middlesex Election v. v. Wks. 1816 IV. 206 Our cock hath had a nick;..His droat is cut, and there he lieth. 1885Rider Haggard K. Solomon's Mines xiii, The fatal ‘nick’ of the artery was done..swiftly and painlessly.
II.
†5. A verbal correspondence or resemblance; a pun. Obs. (Cf. nick v.2 4.)
1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer ii. (1577) K iij, The other sort of iestes..consisteth only in quicke and subtil sayings,..and in nickes. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. xvii[i]. (Arb.) 146 In these verses by reason one [word] of them doth as it were nicke another,..it behoueth..to place them where the nicke may be more expresly discouered.
6. In the game of hazard: A throw which is either the same as the main, or has a fixed correspondence to it (see quot. 1797).
a1635Corbet Poems (1807) 128 Amongst the gamesters, where they name thee thicke At the last maine, or the last pocky nicke. c1696Prior Cupid & Ganymede 32 The usual trick: Seven, slur a six; eleven, a nick. 1778C. Jones Hoyle's Games Impr. 211 The Nick of Seven is seven to two, often laid ten to three. The Nick of Six and Eight is five to one. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VIII. 347/1 Nicks are either when the chance is the same with the main,..or six and twelve, seven and eleven, eight and twelve. 1809Byron Bards & Rev. xxxii, The jovial caster's set, and seven's the nick. 1853G. J. Whyte-Melville Digby Grand I. vi. 164 ‘Seven's the main—seven!’ The dice rattled, the box fell, and a dotted eleven turned its welcome surface upward. I need not say this was what is termed a nick. 1863Chambers's Encycl. V. 274/2 If his throw be not a nick, or a crab, then, if he can repeat the same throw before the main turns up, he wins.
III. 7. the (very) nick: a. The precise or exact moment or point of time when something takes place or requires to be done; the critical moment. Chiefly used in phr. in († at, upon) the nick (common from c 1580).
1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. vi. vi, The Romane navie..arrived at the very pinch, or as commonly we say, in the nicke. 1600Holland Livy xxx. xxv. 757 Thus the truce being doubtlesse broken..Lælius and Fulvius came in the verie nicke from Rome. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. ii. (1623) 336 We at last came to the Gallies, just upon the very Nicke, [etc.]. 1638Cowley Love's Riddle v. Wks. 1711 III. 136 Philistus..just at the nick came in And parted us. 1648Evelyn Let. in Wks. 1852 III. 11 Your Essex men, who (contrary to all expectations until the very nick) came in a body. 1724Swift Quiet Life Wks. 1755 IV. i. 48 Ent'ring in the very nick, He saw virago Nell belabour..his peaceful neighbour. 1774Foote Cozeners iii. Wks. 1799 II. 196 Married..they would have been, if I had not come just in the nick. 1809Malkin Gil Blas iv. ii. ⁋4 There passed by in the very nick one of his friends. 1868Nettleship Ess. Browning vi. 191 But the Pope and King returning in the nick, crucified him.
†b. The exact point aimed at; the mark. Obs.
1602Marston Ant. & Mel. Induction, Wks. 1856 I. 3, I will so tickle the sense..with the titillation of hyperbolicall praise, that I'le strike it in the nick, in the very nick. 1621Fletcher Pilgrim iii. vi, Schol. Does the sea stagger ye? Mast. Now ye have hit the nick. 1656E. Reyner Rules Govt. Tongue 29 Right words are effectual; for they hit the mark, light in the nick, and strike on the right string.
†c. slang or colloq. The ‘proper thing’. Obs.
1788Ld. R. Seymour in Murray's Mag. I. 472 The word Ton is quite abolished. Everything that is fashionable is now called the Nick.
8. a. The precise moment or time of some occurrence or event.
1645Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith i. (1845) 3 It is unhappy, if, in the nick of the first breaking of the morning sky, the night-watch fall fast asleep. 1670G. H. Hist. Cardinals ii. iii. 199 Dying just in the nick of the vacancy of the See. 1713Steele Guard. No. 82 ⁋10 In the nick of being surprised, the lovers..escape at a trap-door. 1845Hood True Story xi, A tramper That came in danger's very nick. 1855Browning Childe Roland xxix, In the very nick Of giving up, one time more, came a click.
†b. The essential part of something. Obs.
1577Stanyhurst Descr. Ireland Ep. Ded. in Holinshed (1808) VI, He was so crost in the nicke of this determination that his historie..wandred through sundrie hands. 1684Observator No. 129 Trim. What's that to the Book here before us? Obs. Only the very Nick of the Case.
†c. The exact amount of something. Obs.—1
1610B. Jonson Alch. iv. iv, I knew, the Doctor would not leaue Till he had found the very nick of her fortune.
9. the (very) nick of time (or † opportunity) = 7 a.
a. In phr. with in or at.
1612R. Carpenter Soules Sent. 40 [He] came in the nicke of opportunity to beg grace. 1643[Angier] Lanc. Vall. Achor 19 [We] came in the nick of time to relieve the well-affected in Preston. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 179 If he had not gone down at the very nick of time, the Ship could not have failed of being very quickly blown up. 1710Addison Tatler No. 158 ⁋1 In the very Nick of Time, in the Critical Moment. 1737L. Clarke Hist. Bible (1740) viii. 539 Antiochus returning at the very nick of time, was unanimously declared King. 1818Hazlitt Eng. Poets viii. (1870) 200 He unexpectedly appears just in the nick of time, after years of absence. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge lxx, He..had changed sides at the very nick of time. 1888Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. vii. 118 The following note..reached the young man's hands in the very nick of time.
b. In other constructions.
1644Lancash. Tracts Civil War (Chetham Soc.) 177 Something must be done, and now was the nicke and joynt of time. 1681J. Flavel Meth. Grace xi. 236 The wisdom of God..hits the very nick of time for his application. 1845Miall in Nonconf. V. 253 To turn to profitable account ‘the nick of time’. 1867Trollope Chron. Barset I. xxxv. 299 It was simply the nick of time which gave it to him.
10. a. (With a and pl.) A critical point or moment. Now rare.
1628Feltham Resolves ii. viii. 19 There are some nicks in Time, which whosoeuer findes, may promise to himselfe successe. 1664Butler Hud. ii. iii. 622 With Symbols, Signs, and Tricks, Engrav'd in Planetary Nicks. 1730T. Boston Mem. 293 They had come forth at such a nick for sale. a1845Hood Forge ii. xx, With whom, at that very particular nick, There is such an unlucky crow to pick. 1879Stevenson Trav. Cevennes 106 Certainly here was a man in an interesting nick of life.
†b. So nick of time. Chiefly with in or at. Obs.
1642Declar. Lords & Comm. to Gen. Assembly Ch. Scot. 12 In this nick of time. 1674T. Flatman Belly God 8 'Tis a crime To interrupt at such a nick of time. a1707S. Patrick Autobiogr. (1839) 179, I look upon it as a singular providence of God, that Dr. Harris..should come in at that nick of time. 1724A. Collins Gr. Chr. Relig. Pref. 57 There is one season and nick of time, wherein they will allow [etc.].
†c. A point, stage, degree. to a nick, to a nicety. Obs.
1636Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. lxx. 183 There is a nick in Christianity, to the which whosoever cometh they see and feel more than others can do. 1649Bulwer Pathomyot. ii. i. 90 To fit its purpose in such an intricate nick of irresolution. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) I. 108 For who could choose but err, without some Trick To take your Elevation to a Nick.
†d. A chance, opportunity. Obs. rare—1.
1664J. Wilson A. Commenius v. i, He is so sensible of's danger, He catches at any thing—this is our nick.
IV.
†11. (Precise sense not clear.) Obs. rare—1.
1609B. Jonson Sil. Wom. iv. iv, A very Sharke, he set me i' the nicke t'other night at primero.
†12. App., a fraudulent bottom in a beer-can, diminishing the quantity of liquor contained in it. (Cf. kick n.2 1.) Only in phr. nick and froth. Obs.
In quot. a 1700 associated with sense 2 a, but compare quot. 1616 under nick v.2 12.
1600–12Rowlands Four Knaves (Percy Soc.) 48 With cannes of beere..And those they say are fil'd with nick and froth. 1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Trav. Twelvepence Wks. i. 70/2 They vsed so much deceit with nick and froth. a1658Cleveland Lenten Litany ix, From the Nick and Froth of a Penny Pot-house, Libera nos. c1665Nick & Froth in Roxb. Ball. VI. 487 Now we'll..lay you all open to view, It's all for your Froth and your Nick (you slaves). a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Nick and Froth built the Pye at Aldgate, sharping in the Reckonings and cheating in the Measure built that (once) Noted House.
attrib.1741Poor Robin, Chron., She still continues the Nick and Froth Trade as usual.
V.
13. An instance of cross-breeding.
1824D. P. Blaine Canine Pathol. (ed. 2) 109 Some rearers of game fowls..are favourable to breeding from the third remove, which they call a nick. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXIX. 484/1 Star, a good one in the field, was bred to Druid, and Mr. Wells made a record with this nick. Most of the puppies of this cross were handsome and excellent workers. 1927J. E. Platt Thoroughbred Race-Horse iv. 31 All the well-known nicks and blending of bloods must be observed, and the leading lines of sires and dams carefully considered. 1973Country Life 15 Nov. 1545/1 The nick owed little to studies of genetics and line breeding [of harriers].
14. Phrases. in good nick (slang, orig. dial.), in good condition; (in the) nick (slang), (in) prison, (at a) police station.
1882Sydney Slang Dict. 6/2 Nick (The), gaol. 1905Wright Eng. Dial. Dict. Suppl. 151/1 In good nick, in good condition. 1949F. Sargeson I saw in my Dream 61 They [sc. tennis courts] seemed to be in good nick. 1952‘N. Shute’ Far Country 5 She's in good nick. 1957Railway Mag. June 431/1 It does not mean..that an ‘A4’ in good ‘nick’..is not capable of performances well up to the pre-war standard. 1957P. Wildeblood Main Chance 122 ‘Arrest me,’ said Ron. ‘Go on, take me to the nick.’ 1959Listener 9 Apr. 645/3 Sundry knaves have been routed and put in ‘the nick’. 1962R. Cook Crust on its Uppers i. 20 The boys down at Chelsea nick. 1968Listener 8 Aug. 178/2 A second-'and British slave in good nick. 1968J. Lock Lady Policeman i. 7 An address much nearer than the ‘nick’. Ibid. 8 Back at the nick the station officer was very cross. 1969[see bust n.3 f]. 1970P. Laurie Scotland Yard iii. 66 The Inspector calls the nick. 1971‘F. Clifford’ Blind Side ii. ii. 81 Reports are that he's in fair enough nick.
▪ II. † nick, v.1 Obs. (exc. arch.)
Forms: 4–6 (9) nick, (4 nic, ? nickin), 4 nik(ke, nycke, 4–5 nyk(ke, 5 nek-, 7 Sc. neck.
[Of obscure origin: perh. f. nic = ne ic not I: see nich. Connexion with Sw. neka, to deny, seems unlikely.]
1. a. intr. To make denial, to deny. rare—1.
a1225Ancr. R. 308 Hit nis nout ine Godes kurt ase hit is iðe schire, þer ase þe þet nickeð [L. negat] wel mei beon iboruwen, and þe fule þet is icnowen is idemed.
b. trans. To deny (a person or thing). rare.
a1300Cursor M. 21078 Þat erth, þai say, vmstund Men seis vprisand fra þe grund..: þe landes folk it will noght nick. 13..Ibid. 15566 (Gött.), Þu sal me nickin are.
2. trans. To answer (one) ‘nay’ or (usually) with ‘nay’. Also const. of.
a1300Cursor M. 3917 Laban o leue þam nicked nai. [Also 6604, 19773.] Ibid. 4382 Has þou nicked me wit nay? c1330Amis & Amil. 2176 No wold thai nick him with no nay. a1400Pistill of Susan 148 Ȝif I nikke hem with nai, hit helpeþ me nouȝt. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 115 Lord, wendis on your way, Yone berne nykis yow with nay. 1515Scottish Field in Chetham Misc. (1856) Introd. 13 But he nicked them with nay, and none of yt woulde. 15..King Estmere xii. in Child Ballads II. 52/1 She nicked him of naye, And I doubt sheele do you the same. 1603Philotus xxxii, Sweit sucker, neck me not with nay, Bot be content to tak him. [1820Scott Abbot xxxviii, I have but one boon to ask, I trust you will not nick me with nay.]
b. Without personal object. rare.
a1310in Wright Lyric P. viii. 32 Ant ever at neode y nycke nay, that y ner nemnede that heo nolde. c1350Will. Palerne 4145 Ȝif sche nickes wiþ nay & nel nouȝt com sone,..I wol þat reaume ouer-ride.
▪ III. nick, v.2|nɪk|
Also 6–7 nicke, 6 nycke, 7 knick.
[Of obscure origin: there is no obvious connexion with similar forms in the cognate languages, as Du. nikken, G. nicken, to nod, beckon, G. knicken to break, snap. It is also uncertain whether all the senses really belong to the same word.]
I.
1. trans. To make a nick or notch in; to cut in nicks or notches; to indent.
1530Palsgr. 644/1 It is no trewe poynte to nycke your tayle [more than mine]. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 189 Some cutteth the napkin, some trencher will nick. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 175 His man with Cizers nickes him like a foole. a1650Robin Hood & Guy of Gisborne xlii. in Child Ballads III. 93/2 Robin pulled forth an Irish kniffe, And nicked Sir Guy in the fface. 1681W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 918 To nick or notch. 1764E. Moxon Eng. Housew. 44 Nick your beef about an inch distance. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 122 Before a saw is employed.., nick the place with a paring chisel. 1856Mrs. Browning Aurora Leigh ix. 547 The falling beam Which nicked me on the forehead as I passed The gallery-door. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 117/2 Each head came under a saw, and was nicked across the centre.
fig.1881Harper's Mag. July 249 A stiff palm-tree..nicked the blue-blackness of the sky.
b. To record or score by means of a notch or notches made on a tally or stick. Also with up, down, and in fig. use.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §141 And yf he can not wryte lette hym nycke the defautes vpon a stycke. 1582Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 22 Bee sure, this practise wil I nick in a freendlye memento. 1598Yong Diana 484 Vpon our score You should nicke vp so many merie tides. 1613Day Dyall xii. (1614) 318 So is their reasoning again as silly, who upon the word Merit in the Fathers, nick up still our owne Deserts. 1641Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 98 With a knife wee nicke on a spell howe many cleane weathers. 1738Swift Pol. Conversat. 5 I'll get a knife and nick it down, that Mr. Neverout came to our House. a1845Hood Tale of Trumpet xiv, As for the clock the moments nicking, The Dame only gave it credit for ticking.
c. absol. or intr. To chip china.
1885Harper's Mag. Feb. 477/1 As regards china..our servants are not in the least careful not to nick.
2. To cut into or through; to cut short.
1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. xiii. 8 The itch of his Affection should not then Haue nickt his Captain-ship at such a point. 1787Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook xii, It's e'en a lang, lang time indeed Sin' I began to nick the thread. 1789― Peregrin. Capt. Grose viii, The knife that nicket Abel's craig. 1865Mrs. Whitney Gayworthys xxvi, Skylark grew to be her ordinary appellative; shortened, indeed to Skylie; the nickname nicked.
b. To fashion or mark out by cutting. Also with out, and in fig. use.
1605Camden Rem., Epitaphs 42 A Monke of Duresme busied his braine in nicking out these nice verses vpon the death of W. de La-march. 1719Hamilton Epist. ii. vi. in Ramsay's Poems, Thy verses nice as ever nicket, Made me as canty as a cricket. 1827Clare Sheph. Cal. 180 Nicking the ‘Nine-peg morris’ in the grass. 1838Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 326/1 The breadth of land has been nicked out upon the ground.
c. Mining. (See quots.)
1847Halliwell, Nick, to cut vertical sections in a mine from the roof. North. 1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining 174 Nick, to cut or shear coal after holing.
d. To fasten with a click. rare—1.
1856Mrs. Browning Aurora Leigh vi. 1067 The lady closed That door, and nicked the lock.
3. To make an incision at the root of (a horse's tail) in order to make him carry it higher.
1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 4 Why should any Horse carry me better when his Tail is nick'd (as the Term is) than he did before? 1828[H. Best] Italy as it is 87 Most of the horses had their tails docked, nicked and cropped. 1887Hall Caine Son of Hagar i. vii, Anything from ploughing to threshing and nicking a nag's tail.
absol.1859A. Cary Country Life (1876) 189 I'm a going to..learn to nick and dock.
b. To cut (a horse) at the root of the tail.
1753J. Bartlet Gentl. Farriery 311 The art of nicking horses then chiefly consists in a transverse division of these depressing tendons of the tail. 1791W. Gilpin Forest Scenery II. 268 The custom..of docking, nicking, and cropping their horses. 1815Sporting Mag. XLVI. 115 Every man who nicks his horse, ought himself to be nicked elsewhere. 1896Daily News 11 Feb. 9/1 Prosecuted..for ‘nicking’ two hackneys and a chestnut mare.
II.
4. †a. To tally with, correspond to, resemble, fit, suit exactly. Obs.
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. xvii[i]. (Arb.) 146 By reason one [word] of them doth as it were nicke another. Ibid. iii. xix. 212 Because the one [word] seemes to answere th'other by manner of illusion, and doth, as it were, nick him, I call him the Nicknamer. 1605Camden Rem. 140 Words nicking and resembling one the other, are appliable to diffrent significations. 1687T. Brown Lib. Consc. in Dk. Buckhm.'s Wks. (1705) II. 126 To this odd-conditioned Soul was tack'd a Body that nickt it like two Exchequer Tallies. 1702Motteux Prol. Farquhar's Inconstant 21 An opera, like an oglio, nicks the age.
b. intr.
1876Rep. Vermont Board Agric. III. 132 There is another strain or peculiarity among these Canadians, that seems to nick well with the Morgans. 1974Country Life 3–10 Jan. 43/3 The colour-marking Hereford ‘nicks’ well with virtually all beef and dairy breeds.
†5. To hit off or fit (a person or thing) with (or in) an appropriate name. Obs.
Perh. partly from nickname: cf. quot. 1889 in b.
1589[? Lyly] Pappe w. Hatchet B iv, If anie be vnchristened, Ile nicke him with a name. 1602Carew Cornwall (1769) 88 Some of the idle disposed Cornish men nicke their townes with by words, as, the..pride of Truro, Gallants of Foy. 1605Camden Rem. 141 The Greekes..nicked Antiochus Epiphanes, that is, the famous, with Epimanes, that is, the furious. 1687Montagu & Prior Hind & P. Transv. 24, I have so nickt his Character in a Name as will make you split. 1693South Serm. 455 Take any Passion of the Soul of Man..and nick it with some lucky or unlucky Word.
b. To call by some (depreciative) name; to nickname. Obs. exc. as nonce-wd.
1605Camden Rem. 80 Goodith.., by which name King Henry the first was nicked in contempt. 1634Ford Perk. Warbeck iv. iii, Warbeck, as you nick him, came to me. 1689N. Lee Princ. Cleve ii. iii, Believe me Sir, in a little time you'll be nick'd the Town-Bull.
1889Lankester in Nature 21 Mar. 485 There is no ground for regarding the word ‘Lamarckism’ as a nickname. There can be no desire to ‘nick’ him or anyone else.
c. To criticize, censure.
1667Dryden Maiden Queen 2nd Prol. 57 Those who write not, and yet all writers nick, Are bankrupt gamesters.
6. a. to nick it, to hit the mark, to make a hit; to guess rightly.
1624Massinger Parl. Love v. i, Have I not nick'd it, tutor? 1681Hickeringill Black Non-Conf. Concl., Wks. 1716 II. 151 Jezabel nick't it in Politicks, when..she made the Law [etc.]. 1705Vanbrugh Confederacy Prol., All his decent plays, Where he so nicked it, when he writ for praise. 1740Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 182 So, Jackey, but we just nicked it, I find. a1804R. Graves tr. Martial ii. vii, At every ball how prettily you nick it! 1823Moncrieff Tom & Jerry i. iv, You've nicked it: the fact is this, Dicky—you must turn missionary. 1831Lamb Satan in search, etc. i. xii, ‘I wish my Nicky is not in love’.—‘O mother, you have nicked it!’
b. To hit, arrive at with precision.
1673[R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 6, I gad sir, and there you have nickt the present juncture of affairs. 1712Oldisworth Horace's Odes vii. 29/1 Without doubt we have nick'd Horace's meaning. 1761Chesterfield Lett. ccclx. (1792) IV. 177 All things have their bound..; and I will endeavour to nick that point. 1800Lamb Let. to Manning in Final Mem. (1848) I. 113 You just nicked my palate. 1853Lytton My Novel ii. v, He..perceived the chances for and against.., and nicked the question between wind and water. 1889Doyle Micah Clarke xxvii, Mayhap you have nicked the truth.
†c. to nick the pin: (see quots.). Obs.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v. Pin, Nick the Pin, to Drink fairly. 1708Kersey, To Nick the Pin, to drink just to the Pin plac'd about the middle of a Wooden Bowl or Cup.
†d. To break (windows) by hitting with copper coins (cf. nicker n.2 3). Obs. rare—1.
1717Prior Alma iii. 235 He starts up mohack; Breaks watchmen's heads, and chairmen's glasses, And thence proceeds to nicking sashes.
e. To hit off neatly or precisely.
a1694M. Robinson Autobiog. (1856) 6 His father..did admire to see how the boy would nick off the very sense of difficult passages. 1839Thackeray Second Lect. Fine Arts, The chairs, tables, curtains, and pictures, are nicked off with extraordinary neatness and sharpness. 1856― Christmas Bks. (1872) 25 He dockets his tailor's bills, and nicks off his dinner notes in diplomatic paragraphs.
7. To hit or catch exactly (the proper time, season, etc. for something).
a1664Frank in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. lxix. 13 Come we but to him in either of these, and we have nicked the time; we are sure to be accepted. 1677W. Hughes Man of Sin ii. viii. 123 You must be sure to nick the Season; 'Tis at the Masse, just between the Elevation of our Lord, and the three Agnus Dei. 1725T. Thomas in Portland Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm.) VI. 139 We nicked the time very happily. 1759Goldsm. Bee No. 3 ⁋12 He had, as he fancied, just nicked the time, for he came in as the cloth was laying. 1843Le Fevre Life Trav. Phys. I. i. iv. 75, I had nicked my time, and..I embarked. 1846Landor Exam. Shaks. Wks. II. 269 Unless he nicked the time he might miss the monster.
†b. To catch, seize, take advantage of (an opportunity, etc.). Obs.
1634Shirley Opportunity v. i, Something will come on't, if he have The grace to nick this opportunity. 1672Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 4 None more ready to nick a juncture of Affairs than a malapert Chaplain. 1704J. Pitts Acc. Moham. viii. 124 Had the Spaniards nick'd that opportunity..they might have done great Execution.
c. To catch (a boat, train, etc.) just at the time of departure.
1841Lytton Nt. & Morn. ii. iv, I must arrive just in time to nick the vessels. 1888Poor Nellie 16 ‘Awfully glad we've nicked it’ [sc. a train], said George.
d. Of a ball in squash, real tennis, etc.: to strike the floor and wall simultaneously.
1898W. Morgan ‘House’ on Sport 251 By volleying the service you prevent the ball ‘nicking’, i.e., so pitching in the angle formed by floor and wall as to be unplayable. 1926C. Arnold Handbk. on Squash Rackets iii. 34 It [sc. the ball] should be made just to nick on to the side wall and floor and there lie dead. 1960Times 29 Nov. 17/3 Oddy was nicking the side wall more often. 1973Times 31 Jan. 8/7 The pace was ferocious, the 22-year-old Jehan hitting a stream of nicked winners.
8. slang. To catch, take unawares; to nab or nail. In mod. use spec. of the police: to arrest, to put in gaol. Hence ˈnicking vbl. n.
c1622Fletcher & Mass. Prophetess iii. i, We must be sometimes witty, To knick a knave. 1673S' too him Bayes 83 Now will I nick thee here—worse than any where in all my book. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 94 If he gets him dead drunk, then is the critical Minute to nick him. a1734North Lives (1826) I. 204 There the Common Pleas thought they had nicked them. 1759Townley High Life below Stairs ii. i, You have just nick'd them in the very Minute. 1806in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. IX. 379 He..stands a chance of getting nicked, because he was found in bad company. 1836Marryat Japhet lvii, He has come to get off his accomplice, and now we've just nicked them both. 1893P. H. Emerson Signor Lippo xvii, All my pals got nicked, and I chucked it. 1958Encounter May 11/2 He'd got nicked for ponceing off his old woman. 1959‘M. Cronin’ Dead & Done With x. 152 They nicked your chum for killing his wife. 1962John o' London's 25 Jan. 82/2 ‘Arrest’ has many Cant synonyms including..nick. 1968J. Lock Lady Policeman iii. 30, I don't sleep rough any more. I've learnt a thing or two since you nicked me. 1970G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard i. 28 Even on leave he looked for possible nickings. 1973J. Wainwright Devil you Don't 32, I am talking to you, copper..either nick me..or close that bloody door.
†b. nick me, as an imprecation. Obs. rare—1.
1760Foote Minor i. Wks. 1799 I. 241 Nick me, but I have a great mind to tie up, and ruin the rascals.
c. To steal. Also, to rob.
1869Temple Bar July 75, I bolted in and ‘nicked’ a nice silver tea-pot. 1896Daily News 23 Apr. 2/2 Here is a pair of boots which Eliza has ‘nicked’. 1901‘J. Flynt’ World of Graft 220/1 Nick, to make a ‘touch’. 1903J. London People of Abyss xxiii. 280 ‘At ten we 'ops the wag; at thirteen we nicks things; an' at sixteen we bashes the copper.’ Which is to say, at ten they play truant, at thirteen steal, and at sixteen are sufficiently developed hooligans to smash the policemen. 1914Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 62 Nick... To surreptitiously extract something from the person. 1916H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap vi. 236 ‘I did hear that you'd had your pocket picked.’.. ‘That's right... Some lad nicked me for my roll and return ticket.’ 1954Wodehouse Jeeves & Feudal Spirit ix. 81 Despite this, you succeeded in nicking him for what must have been a small fortune. 1966J. Porter Sour Cream xiii. 169, I had Azatov's own pass which I had nicked from him at the airport. 1973Courier Mail (Brisbane) 21 June 7/4 Nicking toys from chain stores. 1974S. Gulliver Vulcan Bulletins 29 The Libyans will try to nick Javits' shipment.
III. †9. In the game of hazard: To win against (the other players) by casting a nick. Obs.
a1553Nice Wanton 212 Iniq. Here, sirs, come on; seuen! (They set him.) Aleauen at all! Ism. Do ye nycke vs? 1668Dryden Even. Love iv. i, My Don he sets me ten pistoles; I nick him: ten more, I sweep them too. 1673― Marr. à la Mode iv. iv, This is now the second time he has barr'd the dice when we were just ready to have nicked him. 1684Otway Atheist iii. i, I ha' not been robb'd, Sir, but I have been nick'd,..and that's as bad.
†b. In fig. use. Obs.
c1620Fletcher & Mass. Trag. Barnavelt v. ii, We know you have..ministerd much Justice, Nickt many a worthie gamester. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, cccx, France vnderhand pursues The Advantage of the Warre to nicke him out Ere he could prize his Chance; False Dice may doo't.
10. To make (a winning cast) at hazard; to get as a nick; to throw the nick of (a certain number).
1598Florio Legare,..to binde, tie, or nick a cast at dice. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Ambezatz, hauing had that chance that no wise man would nicke. 1709S. Centlivre Gamester i. Wks. 1761 I. 140 Come, throw a Main, Sir, then I'll instruct you how to nick it. 1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. iii, My old luck: I never nicked seven that I did not throw amesace three times following. 1815Chron. in Ann. Reg. 289/2 A wager whether there are more ways than 6 of nicking 7 on the dice.
†b. intr. To make nicks; to gamble; also, to throw a nick. Obs. rare.
1676Wycherly Pl. Dealer ii. i, Thou art some..gaming Companion, and want'st some Widow's old Gold to nick upon. 1732Fielding Lottery Wks. 1775 I. 249 If I can but nick this time, ame's-ace I defy thee.
11. To trick, cheat: to defraud of, do out of. ? Obs.
1595Maroccus Ext. 8 To nycoll you, or nicke you rather of an old peece of velvet hose. 1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Gt. Eater Kent 8 Ale-houses nor tapsters cannot nick this Nick [Wood] with froth: curtoll cannes..could neuer cheate him. 1727Gay Begg. Op. ii. She rivetted a linen draper's eyes so fast upon her, that he was nick'd of three pieces of cambrick before he could look off. 1777Mme. D'Arblay's Early Diary (1889) II. 279 He nickd us entirely and never came at all. 1818Scott Rob Roy iii, The polite and accomplished adventurer, who nicked you out of your money at White's. 1818― Hrt. Midl. xx, Three words of your mouth would give the girl the chance to nick Moll Blood [the gallows].
absol.1733Fielding Quix. in Eng. ii. xiv, The mister and the man will trick, The mistress and the maid will nick.
†12. To provide (a beer-pot) with a nick. Also intr., to employ this method of cheating. Obs.
1592Def. Conny Catching in Greene's Wks. (Grosart) XI. 68 The Ale-wife unles she nicke her Pots and connycatch her guestes with stone Pottes..can hardly paye her Brewer. 1616Shirburn Ballads (1906) 92 Though I be loth To nicke and to froth, That built the Pie at Algate. c1665in Roxburghe Ballads VI. 487 Bee't tankerd or flaggon,..we'l trust you to Nick and to Froth.
13. intr. In hunting, racing, or coursing: To cut in. Also with past, up, etc.
1852R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour xxii, [He is] always nicking and skirting. 1883E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 133 Those [horsemen] who nicked in by means of a lucky road. 1883Standard 22 Feb. 3/7 Glenlivet had a good winning balance when Strawberry Girl nicked past and killed. 1898Daily News 16 June 2/3 That beautiful filly..was lucky enough to nick in on the inside when the leaders ran out at the bend.
b. Austral. To slip away, depart hurriedly.
1896E. Turner Little Larrikin xxiii. 274 Trying to induce the driver of the motor, for whom he had a friendship, to promise at the end of the journey to ‘nick away and come too’. 1928‘Brent of Bin Bin’ Up Country viii. 120 Bert and I could just nick down to Mungee. 1959Baker Drum ii. 129 Nick, do a, to decamp, slip away unnoticed. Also, nick off.
IV.
14. Of animals, to mate with excellent results.
1865Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. I. ii. 323 Colonel Cradock liked the sort for their size and milk, and they ‘nicked’ well both with the Booth and the Bates blood. 1868Ibid. IV. ii. 349 The native Shetland ewes..have ‘nicked’ so effectually with rams of the breed that the produce is bought up readily by a certain class of dealers. 1942R. B. Kelley Sheep Dogs 51 When the progeny of a bitch by a particular dog are outstanding the parents are said to have ‘nicked’. 1959New Scientist 22 Oct. 737/2 Where the offspring's performance is conspicuously superior to that of its parents the mating [of poultry] is said to ‘nick’. 1971Daily Tel. 4 Jan. 7/6 Breeders..know from bitter experience that matings do not always ‘nick’ and that..they are sure to suffer many a disappointment.
15. To compare or compete.
1887Bury & Hillier Cycling 227 Only one sport ‘nicks’ with cycling, and that is fair toe and heel walking. |