in the nick of time
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Just at the right moment. The allusion is to tallies marked with nicks or notches. Cp. PRICK OF NOON.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Examples
His help came in the nick of time.Sự trợ giúp của anh ấy đến thật đúng lúc.
Tatoeba sentence #2130524 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “in the nick of time” mean?
Just at the right moment. The allusion is to tallies marked with nicks or notches. Cp. PRICK OF NOON.
Is “in the nick of time” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.