| 单词 | nickel and dime |
| 释义 | nickel-and-dime also nickel and dime Word forms: nickels-and-dimes, nickel-and-diming, nickeling-and-diming, nickel-and-dimed, nickeled-and-dimed 1. transitive verb If you accuse a person of nickel-and-diming someone or something, you are criticizing that person for weakening or exhausting them, for example, by continually taking small amounts of money away from them, or by continually making small changes or requests. [US, informal, disapproval] A bad contractor may hide mistakes or blame someone else and nickel-and-dime youwith extra charges. If you try to nickel-and-dime people, they are not going to be co-operative. 2. adjective If you describe someone or something as nickel-and-dime, you mean that they are not very important or they only function on a small scale. [US, informal] ...a number of nickel-and-dime jobs – janitor, pastry chef, window washer. nickel-and-dime in British English (ˌnɪkələnˈdaɪm) US informal adjective 1. small; insignificant; involving small amounts of money Do you really think that only nickel-and-dime amounts are involved? funds for nickel-and-dime investors They meet every week in his basement for nickel-and-dime poker games verb (transitive) 2. to wear or bring someone down by small-scale incursions, penalties etc Angry citizens accused the council of trying to nickel-and-dime them to death. The act sets very low contribution limits forcing candidates to nickel-and-dime theirsupporters all the year round. The sales tax nickel-and-dimes you. It's only small sums, but over time they addup. nickel-and-dime in American English (ˈnɪkələnˈdaɪm) US, Informal adjective 1. costing or spending little; cheap 2. of little value or importance; minor; petty verb transitiveWord forms: ˈnickel- (or ˈnickeled-)and-ˈdimed or ˈnickel- (or ˈnickeling-)and-ˈdiming 3. to spend very little on 4. to weaken, erode, destroy, etc. as by the repeated expenditure of small sums or repeated niggling actions verb intransitive 5. to spend very little Idioms: nickel-and-dime it nickel and dimenot very important or only functioning on a small scale A lot of American kids run similar nickel and dime ventures, selling sweet, cooldrinks outside their parents' home in the long, hot summers. to weaken or exhaust someone or something, for example by continually taking smallamounts of money away from them, or by continually making small changes or requests Oakland, like other cities, has been reeling from financial crisis and consequentlyhas been nickel and diming essential services for years. |
| 随便看 |
|
英语词典包含298861条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。