noun

• A small cut in a surface.
  "in the nick of time"
• A small cut in a surface.
  "A nick is a hollow cast crossways in the shanks of types, to make a distinction readily between differnt sorts and sizes; and to enable the compositor to perceive quickly the bottom of the letter as it lies in the case, when composing; as nicks are always cast on that side of the shank on which the bottom of the face of the letter is placed. A great deal of inconvenience frequently arises, owing to the founders casting different founts of types with a similar nick in each."
• Senses connoting something small.
  "Just as a judge may mistakenly believe in the credibility of a clever liar, thereby reaching an 'incorrect decision', an umpire dealing with the blur of a fast bowler and listening for a nick of the bat, or lifting his eyes quickly from the bowler's front foot to follow the flight and pitch of the ball to determine if the batter is out LBW [leg before wicket], can easily be mistaken."
• Senses connoting something small.
  "Analysis of the effect of temperature on the polymerization reaction with nicked and gapped DNA substrates in Mn²⁺ (8) [...] reveals identical values of activation energy (Eₐ) and Q₁₀, indicating that the frequency of productive interactions of polymerase β with 3′-hydroxyl termini at nicks and gaps is indistinguishable and suggesting that localized destabilization of the 5′-terminated DNA strand at the nick site does not contribute significantly to the rate-determining step(s) of the synthetic reaction."

verb

• (transitive) To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way.
  "I nicked myself while I was shaving."
• (transitive) To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way.
  "The itch of his Affection ſhould not then / Haue nickt his Captain-ſhip, at ſuch a point, / When halfe to halfe the world oppos'd, he being / The meered queſtion?"
• (transitive) To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way.
  "The barbarous custom of docking and nicking the tail, and cutting the ears of horses, is too prevalent. [...] [I]n the loss of their tail, they find even a still greater inconvenience. During summer they are perpetually teazed with swarms of insects that either attempt to suck their blood or deposit their eggs in the rectum, which they have no means of lashing off; and in winter they are deprived of a necessary defence against the cold. [From the Boston Yankee.]"
• (transitive, obsolete) To fit into or suit, as by a correspondence of nicks; to tally with.
  "An Alluſion is as it were a dalliance or playing with words, like in ſound, vnlike in ſense, by changing, adding, or ſubtracting a letter or two; ſo that words nicking and reſembling one the other, are appliable to diffrent ſignifications."

noun

• (Internet) Clipping of nickname.
  "a user’s reserved nick on an IRC network"

verb

• (transitive, obsolete) To give or call (someone) by a nickname; to style.
  "For Warbecke as you nicke him, came to me / Commended by the States of Chriſtendome."