1. [n]  a small cut
2. [n]  an impression in a surface (as made by a blow)
3. [v]  mate successfully; of livestock
4. [v]  divide or reset the tail muscles, as of horses
5. [v]  cut a nick into
6. [v]  cut slightly, with a razor; "The barber's knife nicked his cheek"

Nick

more details ...

1. \Nick\, n. [AS. nicor a marine monster; akin to D. nikker a
   water spite, Icel. nykr, ONG. nihhus a crocodile, G. nix a
   water sprite; cf. Gr. ? to wash, Skr. nij. Cf. {Nix}.]
   (Northern Myth.)
   An evil spirit of the waters.
   {Old Nick}, the evil one; the devil. [Colloq.]
   

2. \Nick\, n. [Akin to {Nock}.]
   1. A notch cut into something; as:
      (a) A score for keeping an account; a reckoning. [Obs.]
      (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;
          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
            gainger of a point.                   --L'Estrange.
   

3. \Nick\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Nicked}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Nicking}.]
   1. To make a nick or nicks in; to notch; to keep count of or
      upon by nicks; as, to nick a stick, tally, etc.
   2. To mar; to deface; to make ragged, as by cutting nicks or
      notches in.
            And thence proceed to nicking sashes. --Prior.
            The itch of his affection should not then Have
            nicked his captainship.               --Shak.
   3. To suit or fit into, as by a correspondence of nicks; to
      tally with.
            Words nicking and resembling one another are
            applicable to different significations. --Camden.
   4. To hit at, or in, the nick; to touch rightly; to strike at
      the precise point or time.
            The just season of doing things must be nicked, and
            all accidents improved.               --L'Estrange.
   5. To make a cross cut or cuts on the under side of (the tail
      of a horse, in order to make him carry ir higher).
   

4. \Nick\, v. t.
   To nickname; to style. [Obs.]
         For Warbeck, as you nick him, came to me. --Ford.
   

[IRC] nickname. On IRC, every user must pick a nick, which is sometimes the user's real name or login name, but is often more fanciful. Compare handle.

[Jargon File]