"nickel and dime" meaning in English

See nickel and dime in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˌnɪkəl ən ˈdaɪm/ [US] Audio: en-us-nickel and dime.ogg , en-au-nickel and dime.ogg
Etymology: From the names of two US coins of small value. Head templates: {{head|en|adjectives}} nickel and dime
  1. (US, idiomatic, colloquial) Small time; operating on a small scale; involving small amounts of money; petty or cheap. Tags: US, colloquial, idiomatic
    Sense id: en-nickel_and_dime-en-adj-ZVo4IN6J Categories (other): American English, English coordinated pairs, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 29 18 27 12 14 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 64 6 13 14 4 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 66 4 12 15 3 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 69 3 11 14 3
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Noun

IPA: /ˌnɪkəl ən ˈdaɪm/ [US] Audio: en-us-nickel and dime.ogg , en-au-nickel and dime.ogg
Etymology: From prison or criminal slang. Head templates: {{head|en|noun}} nickel and dime
  1. (US, slang) Fifteen years. Tags: US, slang
    Sense id: en-nickel_and_dime-en-noun-pWH~1xxZ Categories (other): American English, English coordinated pairs Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 29 18 27 12 14
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Noun

IPA: /ˌnɪkəl ən ˈdaɪm/ [US] Audio: en-us-nickel and dime.ogg , en-au-nickel and dime.ogg Forms: nickel and dimes [plural]
Etymology: After retail stores where “everything costs a nickel or a dime” Head templates: {{en-noun}} nickel and dime (plural nickel and dimes)
  1. (US and Canada) A retail store selling inexpensive items, especially one in which all items have a price near a nickel (US five cents) or a dime (US ten cents) Tags: Canada, US Synonyms: five and ten, five and dime Related terms: dollar store
    Sense id: en-nickel_and_dime-en-noun-KK0mSpFX Categories (other): American English, Canadian English, English coordinated pairs Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 29 18 27 12 14
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 3

Verb

IPA: /ˌnɪkəl ən ˈdaɪm/ [US] Audio: en-us-nickel and dime.ogg , en-au-nickel and dime.ogg
Etymology: From the names of two US coins of small value. Head templates: {{en-verb|past2=nickeled and dimed|past3=nickelled and dimed|pres_3sg2=nickels and dimes|pres_ptc2=nickeling and diming|pres_ptc3=nickelling and diming}} nickel and dime (third-person singular simple present nickel and dimes or nickels and dimes, present participle nickel and diming or nickeling and diming or nickelling and diming, simple past and past participle nickel and dimed or nickeled and dimed or nickelled and dimed) Forms: nickel and dimes [present, singular, third-person], nickels and dimes [present, singular, third-person], nickel and diming [participle, present], nickeling and diming [participle, present], nickelling and diming [participle, present], nickel and dimed [participle, past], nickel and dimed [past], nickeled and dimed [participle, past], nickeled and dimed [past], nickelled and dimed [participle, past], nickelled and dimed [past]
  1. (US, idiomatic, colloquial) To charge, or be charged, several unexpected small amounts of money, often in the form of fees, taxes, or related expenses to a venture, which when taken as a whole add up to a significant unexpected cost. Tags: US, colloquial, idiomatic
    Sense id: en-nickel_and_dime-en-verb-QtB4Tw17 Categories (other): American English, English coordinated pairs Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 29 18 27 12 14
  2. (US, idiomatic, colloquial, figuratively) To wear down in small increments; to quibble or obsess endlessly with (someone) over trifles. Tags: US, colloquial, figuratively, idiomatic
    Sense id: en-nickel_and_dime-en-verb-~axZWqba Categories (other): American English, English coordinated pairs Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 29 18 27 12 14
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: fleece
Etymology number: 1

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "From the names of two US coins of small value.",
  "head_templates": [
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        {
          "text": "I bought my new ride from some nickel and dime used-car salesman.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "Don't waste your time with that; their operations are nickel and dime.",
          "type": "example"
        }
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        "Small time; operating on a small scale; involving small amounts of money; petty or cheap."
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          "petty",
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        [
          "cheap",
          "cheap"
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        "(US, idiomatic, colloquial) Small time; operating on a small scale; involving small amounts of money; petty or cheap."
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{
  "etymology_number": 1,
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      "form": "nickel and dimed",
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      "form": "nickeled and dimed",
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        "past"
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    },
    {
      "form": "nickeled and dimed",
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        "past"
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    {
      "form": "nickelled and dimed",
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    {
      "form": "nickelled and dimed",
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      "_dis1": "53 47",
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          "text": "I got nickel and dimed to death by the phone company's sneaky extra charges.",
          "type": "example"
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          "text": "It seems like a great offer, but they will just nickel and dime you until you've spent more than retail anyway.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 October 11, Elaine Glusac, “‘Spending Money to Get Nothing’: The Latest on Resort Fees”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "Even as resort fees are under fire, the nickel-and-diming of travelers that airlines have adopted is seeping into hotel operations. Things that used to be complimentary, such as early check-in or late check-out, now often carry associated fees.",
          "type": "quote"
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        "(US, idiomatic, colloquial) To charge, or be charged, several unexpected small amounts of money, often in the form of fees, taxes, or related expenses to a venture, which when taken as a whole add up to a significant unexpected cost."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "colloquial",
        "idiomatic"
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        "To wear down in small increments; to quibble or obsess endlessly with (someone) over trifles."
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          "endlessly",
          "endlessly"
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        [
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        "(US, idiomatic, colloquial, figuratively) To wear down in small increments; to quibble or obsess endlessly with (someone) over trifles."
      ],
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{
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        "Fifteen years."
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{
  "etymology_number": 3,
  "etymology_text": "After retail stores where “everything costs a nickel or a dime”",
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        "A retail store selling inexpensive items, especially one in which all items have a price near a nickel (US five cents) or a dime (US ten cents)"
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        "(US and Canada) A retail store selling inexpensive items, especially one in which all items have a price near a nickel (US five cents) or a dime (US ten cents)"
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{
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      ],
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        "Small time; operating on a small scale; involving small amounts of money; petty or cheap."
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        "(US, idiomatic, colloquial) Small time; operating on a small scale; involving small amounts of money; petty or cheap."
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{
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    },
    {
      "form": "nickel and diming",
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    },
    {
      "form": "nickeling and diming",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "nickelling and diming",
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    {
      "form": "nickel and dimed",
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    },
    {
      "form": "nickel and dimed",
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    },
    {
      "form": "nickeled and dimed",
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        "past"
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    },
    {
      "form": "nickeled and dimed",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "nickelled and dimed",
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    {
      "form": "nickelled and dimed",
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        "pres_3sg2": "nickels and dimes",
        "pres_ptc2": "nickeling and diming",
        "pres_ptc3": "nickelling and diming"
      },
      "expansion": "nickel and dime (third-person singular simple present nickel and dimes or nickels and dimes, present participle nickel and diming or nickeling and diming or nickelling and diming, simple past and past participle nickel and dimed or nickeled and dimed or nickelled and dimed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "fleece"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I got nickel and dimed to death by the phone company's sneaky extra charges.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "It seems like a great offer, but they will just nickel and dime you until you've spent more than retail anyway.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 October 11, Elaine Glusac, “‘Spending Money to Get Nothing’: The Latest on Resort Fees”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "Even as resort fees are under fire, the nickel-and-diming of travelers that airlines have adopted is seeping into hotel operations. Things that used to be complimentary, such as early check-in or late check-out, now often carry associated fees.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To charge, or be charged, several unexpected small amounts of money, often in the form of fees, taxes, or related expenses to a venture, which when taken as a whole add up to a significant unexpected cost."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "money",
          "money"
        ],
        [
          "fee",
          "fee"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, idiomatic, colloquial) To charge, or be charged, several unexpected small amounts of money, often in the form of fees, taxes, or related expenses to a venture, which when taken as a whole add up to a significant unexpected cost."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "colloquial",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To wear down in small increments; to quibble or obsess endlessly with (someone) over trifles."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "wear down",
          "wear down"
        ],
        [
          "quibble",
          "quibble"
        ],
        [
          "obsess",
          "obsess"
        ],
        [
          "endlessly",
          "endlessly"
        ],
        [
          "trifle",
          "trifle"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, idiomatic, colloquial, figuratively) To wear down in small increments; to quibble or obsess endlessly with (someone) over trifles."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "colloquial",
        "figuratively",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌnɪkəl ən ˈdaɪm/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
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  ],
  "word": "nickel and dime"
}

{
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    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_text": "From prison or criminal slang.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "noun"
      },
      "expansion": "nickel and dime",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English slang"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Fifteen years."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, slang) Fifteen years."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌnɪkəl ən ˈdaɪm/",
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        "US"
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    },
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    "English multiword terms",
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    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 3,
  "etymology_text": "After retail stores where “everything costs a nickel or a dime”",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "nickel and dimes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "nickel and dime (plural nickel and dimes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "dollar store"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "Canadian English"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A retail store selling inexpensive items, especially one in which all items have a price near a nickel (US five cents) or a dime (US ten cents)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "retail",
          "retail"
        ],
        [
          "inexpensive",
          "inexpensive"
        ],
        [
          "price",
          "price"
        ],
        [
          "nickel",
          "nickel"
        ],
        [
          "dime",
          "dime"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US and Canada) A retail store selling inexpensive items, especially one in which all items have a price near a nickel (US five cents) or a dime (US ten cents)"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "five and ten"
        },
        {
          "word": "five and dime"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌnɪkəl ən ˈdaɪm/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/En-au-nickel_and_dime.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "nickel and dime"
}

Download raw JSONL data for nickel and dime meaning in English (9.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.