nick (redirected from nicks)

*in the (very) nick of time

Fig. just in time; at the last possible instant; just before it's too late. (*Typically: arrive ~; get there ~; happen ~; reach something ~; Save someone ~.) The doctor arrived in the nick of time. The patient's life was saved. I reached the airport in the very nick of time and made my flight.

See also: time

full of the devil and full of Old Nick

always making mischief. Little Chuckie is sure full of the devil. Toward the end of the school year, the kids are always full of Old Nick.

See also: devil, full

nick something up

to make little dents or nicks in something, ruining the finish. Someone nicked the kitchen counter up. Who nicked up the coffeepot?

See also: up

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in the nick of time

at the last possible moment

Usage notes: A nick was a mark on a stick which was used in the past to measure time.

We got there just in the nick of time. A minute later and she'd have left.

See also: time

Old Nick  (British & Australian old-fashioned, humorous)

the Devil (= the enemy of God in the Christian religion) In his latest film, he plays a gambler who sells his soul to Old Nick in return for winning a fortune.

See also: old

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(just) in the nick of time

at the last possible moment A man walking his dog saw her fall into the river and pulled her out just in the nick of time.

See also: time