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in the nick of time

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nick

  [nik]
Use in the nick of time in a Sentence
–noun
1. a small notch, groove, chip, or the like, cut into or existing in something.
2. a hollow place produced in an edge or surface, as of a dish, by breaking, chipping, or the like: I didn't notice those tiny nicks in the vase when I bought it.
3. a small dent or wound.
4. a small groove on one side of the shank of a printing type, serving as a guide in setting or to distinguish different types.
5. Biochemistry. a break in one strand of a double-stranded DNA or RNA molecule.
6. British Slang. prison.
–verb (used with object)
7. to cut into or through: I nicked my chin while shaving.
8. to hit or injure slightly.
9. to make a nick or nicks in (something); notch, groove, or chip.
10. to record by means of a notch or notches.
11. to incise certain tendons at the root of (a horse's tail) to give it a higher carrying position; make an incision under the tail of (a horse).
12. to hit, guess, catch, etc., exactly.
13. Slang. to trick, cheat, or defraud: How much did they nick you for that suit?
14. British Slang.
a. to arrest (a criminal or suspect).
b. to capture; nab.
c. to steal: Someone nicked her pocketbook on the bus.
—Idiom
15. in the nick of time, at the right or vital moment, usually at the last possible moment: The fire engines arrived in the nick of time.
Origin:
1475–85; obscurely akin to OE gehnycned wrinkled, ON hnykla to wrinkle
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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nick   (nĭk)   
n.  

  1. A shallow notch, cut, or indentation on an edge or a surface: nicks in the table; razor nicks on his chin.

  2. Chiefly British Slang A prison or police station.

  3. Printing A groove down the side of a piece of type used to ensure that it is correctly placed.

tr.v.   nicked, nick·ing, nicks

    1. To cut a nick or notch in.

    2. To cut into and wound slightly: A sliver of glass nicked my hand.

    3. To steal.

    4. To arrest.

  2. To cut short; check: nicked an impulse to flee.

  3. Slang To cheat, especially by overcharging.

  4. Chiefly British Slang

    1. To steal.

    2. To arrest.


[Middle English nik, possibly alteration (influenced by nokke, notch) of niche; see niche.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
nick

  1. tv.
    to arrest someone. (See also nicked.) : The cops nicked Paul outside his house.
  2. tv.
    to steal something. : The thugs nicked a couple of apples from the fruit stand.
  3. tv.
    to get or take something. : Tom nicked a copy of the test for Sam, who also needed one.
  4. n.
    nicotine. : I'm craving some nick.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

nick  (n.)
"notch, groove, slit," 1483, nyke, of unknown origin, possibly infl. by M.Fr. niche "niche." The verb is first attested 1530. Sense of "to steal" is from 1869, probably from earlier slang sense of "to catch, take unawares, arrest" (1622). Nick of time is first attested 1643, possibly from an old custom of recording time as it passed by making notches on a tally stick, though the general sense of "critical moment" is older (1577) than the phrase.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2nick
Function: transitive verb
: to produce a nick in (DNA) nicked and closed>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

in the nick of time

Also, just in time. At the last moment, as in The police arrived in the nick of time, or He got there just in time for dinner. The first term began life as in the nick and dates from the 1500s, when nick meant "the critical moment" (a meaning now obsolete). The second employs just in the sense of "precisely" or "closely," a usage applied to time since the 1500s. Also see in time, def. 1.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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