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Learn the meaning and usage of the idiom in the nick of time, which means at the last possible moment. See examples from the Hansard archive and other sources.
Apr 11, 2024 · The meaning of IN THE NICK OF TIME is just before the last moment when something can be changed or something bad will happen. How to use in the nick of time in a sentence.
At the last possible moment before a deadline or before something begins or ends; just in time. That car moved off the track in the nick of time—another moment and the train would have smashed into it. You got here in the nick of time—we're just about to start the show. See also: nick, of, time.
in the nick of time. phrase. If you say that something happens in the nick of time, you are emphasizing that it happens at the last possible moment. [emphasis] Seems we got here just in the nick of time. News of interest cuts came in the nick of time for borrowers. See full dictionary entry for nick.
Learn the meaning and origin of the phrase 'in the nick of time', which means just in time or at the precise moment. Find out how it evolved from 'pudding time' and see examples of its usage in literature and proverbs.
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.
Doing something in the nick of time means you almost missed the opportunity: you might catch your dropped phone in the nick of time, just before it falls in a lake, or fix an embarrassing mistake in your school newspaper in the nick of time, right before it's published online.
