in the nick of time Idiom, Proverb
in the nick of time
nearly too late, just in time, under the wire They jumped from the burning boat in the nick of time - just before it sank.
Just in the nick of time
If you do something in the nick of time, you just manage to do it just in time, with seconds to spare.
in the nick of time|nick|nick of time|time
adv. phr. Just at the right time; barely soon enough; almost too late.
The doctor arrived in the nick of time to save the child from choking to death. Joe saw the other car in the nick of time. Compare: IN TIME.
in the nick of time
At the aftermost accessible moment afore a borderline or afore article begins or ends; aloof in time. That car confused off the clue in the nick of time—another moment and the alternation would accept burst into it. You got actuality in the nick of time—we're aloof about to alpha the show.Learn more: nick, of, time*in the (very) nick of time
Fig. aloof in time; at the aftermost accessible instant; aloof afore it's too late. (*Typically: access ~; get there ~; appear ~; ability article ~; Save addition ~.) The doctor accustomed in the nick of time. The patient's activity was saved. I accomplished the airport in the actual nick of time and fabricated my flight.Learn more: nick, of, timein the nick of time
Also, just in time. At the aftermost moment, as in The badge accustomed in the nick of time, or He got there aloof in time for dinner. The aboriginal appellation began activity as in the nick and dates from the 1500s, back nick meant "the analytical moment" (a acceptation now obsolete). The additional employs just in the faculty of "precisely" or "closely," a acceptance activated to time back the 1500s. Also see in time, def. 1. Learn more: nick, of, timein the nick of time
COMMON If article happens in the nick of time, it happens at the aftermost accessible moment, back it is about too late. She woke up aloof in the nick of time and aloft the alarm. They got to the hospital in the nick of time, aloof as the babyish was about to be born.Learn more: nick, of, timein the nick of time
alone aloof in time; aloof at the analytical moment. Nick is acclimated actuality in the faculty of ‘the absolute moment of an accident or an event’. This anatomy of the byword dates from the mid 17th century, but in the (very ) nick is recorded from the backward 16th century. 1985 Nini Herman My Kleinian Home Time and again, back all seemed lost, I somehow won through in the nick of time. Learn more: nick, of, timein the ˌnick of ˈtime
(informal) at the aftermost accessible moment; aloof in time: He got to the railway base in the nick of time. ♢ He remembered in the nick of time that his authorization was in his covering pocket.Learn more: nick, of, time in the nick of time
Aloof at the analytical moment; aloof in time.Learn more: nick, of, timenick of time, (just) in the
At the aftermost minute, aloof in time. This appellation comes from a now anachronistic acceptation of nick, that is, “the analytical moment.” A 1577 account states, “The Romane navie . . . accustomed at the actual pinch, or as frequently we say, in the nicke.” Nearly a aeon after of time was added to analyze the issue, although just in the nick continued to be acclimated for abounding years. It apparently was a cliché by the time Sir Walter Scott wrote (The Pirate, 1821), “The advantageous accession of Gordaunt, in the actual nick of time.”Learn more: nick, of
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