Nick, n. [Akin to Nock.] 1. A notch cut into something; as: (a) A score for keeping an account; a reckoning. (b) (Print.) A notch cut crosswise in the shank of a type, to assist a compositor in placing it properly in the stick, and in distribution. W. Savage. (c) A broken or indented place in any edge or surface; as, nicks in china.
2. A particular point or place considered as marked by a nick; the exact point or critical moment.
To cut it off in the very nick. Howell.
This nick of time is the critical occasion for the gaining of a point. L'Estrange.