NICKS Synonyms: 168 Similar and Opposite Words

nicks 1 of 2

noun

plural of nick

as in chips

a V-shaped cut usually on an edge or a surface I made a nick in the frame when I accidentally dropped it

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as in jails

British slang a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody the blokes at the pub traded stories of nights spent in the nick after having lifted too many pints

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outsides

nicks

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of nick, British slang

as in steals

to take (something) without right and with an intent to keep that lorry was a piece of rubbish, I don't know why anyone would want to nick it

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as in arrests

to take or keep under one's control by authority of law a petty thief who was always getting nicked for picking the pockets of tourists outside Buckingham Palace

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of nicks

Noun

Some rubber doormats may peel or sustain nicks over the years. — Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 3 Nov. 2026 Replace any scissors when the blades have nicks, are bent, or won’t sharpen anymore. — Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 27 Oct. 2026 Trusted by professional barbers, Green Stix stops shaving nicks and minor cuts in seconds. — ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026 Dents and nicks that are deep enough that they can’t be ground down with a sharpener or grinder indicate that the mower blade has reached the end of its useable life. — Lauren Landers, The Spruce, 24 July 2026 Its irregularities, grooves, nicks, and pockmarks heightened, rather than disturbed, the tranquillity of the space. — Literary Hub, 22 July 2026 During construction, floorboards were left exposed to develop nicks and dents. — Genevieve Walker, Architectural Digest, 11 July 2026 The handle comes with one original Athena Club cartridge, which has a skin guard to prevent nicks and a hyaluronic acid serum strip. — Sara Coughlin, Allure, 5 July 2026 In addition to keeping your drink close and your hands empty during your daily activities, the water bottle holder protects your water bottle from nicks and dings. — Clint Davis, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026

Verb

Base editing, the process used to make the changes, only nicks one strand of DNA, avoiding the major DNA errors that made CRISPR unsafe. — Carolyn Y. Johnson, Washington Post, 25 June 2026 That means a ball that nicks a sliver of the plate at the front and then dives into the dirt will not be called a strike by ABS. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Mar. 2026 Mora strikesout swinging, and Qualia gets Carson on a breaking ball that nicks the corner of the zone. — Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 24 Feb. 2026 In the book, the protagonist Jonathan Harker nicks himself with a razor and senses Dracula’s rapt attention. — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 20 Oct. 2025 If the surgeon accidently nicks a vein or cuts through a tumor in a way that causes a leakage of cancerous cells, the recovery mode is to undock the robot rapidly, cut the patient open, and fix the problem the old-fashioned way. — IEEE Spectrum, 5 July 2022

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nicks

Noun

Modern chips depend on technologies that control electrical current, store information, and move data between components.

— Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 7 Nov. 2026
Asian tech companies, which play an integral role in the global electronics supply chain, have been buoyed by insatiable demand for components such as semiconductor chips needed to build massive AI data centers.

— Stephanie Yang, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2026

Definition of chips

Noun

Under the ordinance, all healthcare facilities will be required to allow the partners of a patient to visit, as will jails in the city’s jurisdiction.

— Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026
Pressure to address the conditions in the juvenile jails intensified this summer after a June 21 violent clash at Horizon in Mott Haven between the detainees and staff, in which 11 were stabbed and 15 hospitalized, according to a Council report.

— Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 1 Nov. 2026

Definition of jails

Verb

Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo steals the ball from UConn guard Kayleigh Heckel during the second half in an Elite Eight game on March 29, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas.

— Doug Feinberg, Chicago Tribune, 1 Nov. 2026
Plus, in the end, another chain, Sizzler, swoops in and steals all the cows.

— Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of steals

Verb

Keith arrests our thinking, and cons us into suppressing our critical faculties with the same kind of internalized surveillance that philosopher Michel Foucault broke down to describe a prison’s use of the panopticon in Discipline and Punish.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 May 2026
Devlin throws a punch at Stone when the chief arrests him for drunken driving.

— Sandra Dallas, Denver Post, 19 Apr. 2026

Definition of arrests

Noun

There is no evidence that foreign countries intentionally emptied prisons or mental institutions and sent people to the United States.

— Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 2 Nov. 2026
Final results could come as early as Thursday evening after about a half-million absentee ballots are counted from military personnel, diplomats, people in prisons and hospitals, and others.

— Cara Anna, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of prisons

Verb

Sid is smart enough to sniff this out, and the show seizes the opportunity to raise the romantic stakes through an adorably British expression of mutual libidinousness.

— Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
That reporting revealed that the state frequently seizes money from legal settlements stemming from medical malpractice, police brutality, workplace injury and other wrongful death lawsuits.

— Ginny Monk, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026