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Nick vs Sting - What's the difference?

nick | sting | Related terms |

Nick is a related term of sting.


As a proper noun nick

is a diminutive of the male given name nicholas.

As a noun sting is

a bump left on the skin after having been stung.

As a verb sting is

to hurt, usually by introducing poison or a sharp point, or both.

nick

English

(wikipedia nick)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A small cut in a surface.
  • # A particular point or place considered as marked by a nick; the exact point or critical moment.
  • in the nick of time
  • #*, II.20:
  • Truely he flies when he is even upon the nicke , and naturally hasteneth to escape it, as from a step whereon he cannot stay or containe himselfe, and feareth to sinke into it.
  • #* Howell
  • to cut it off in the very nick
  • # (printing, dated) A notch cut crosswise in the shank of a type, to assist a compositor in placing it properly in the stick, and in distribution.
  • Meanings connoting something small.
  • # (cricket) A small deflection of the ball off the edge of the bat, often going to the wicket-keeper for a catch.
  • # (real tennis) The point where the wall of the court meets the floor.
  • # (genetics) One of the single-stranded DNA segments produced during nick translation.
  • (archaic) A nixie, or water-sprite.
  • * 1879 , Viktor Rydberg, The Magic of the Middle Ages (p.201)
  • *:imps, giants, trolls, forest-spirits, elves and hobgoblins in and on the earth; nicks , river-sprites in the water, fiends in the air, and salamanders in the fire.
  • a user's reserved nick on an IRC network
  • (UK, slang) In the expressions in bad nick'' and ''in good nick : condition.
  • The car I bought was cheap and in good nick .
  • * '>citation
  • (British, slang) A police station or prison.
  • He was arrested and taken down to Sun Hill nick [police station] to be charged.
    He's just been released from Shadwell nick [prison] after doing ten years for attempted murder.

    Derived terms

    * in the nick of time

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way.
  • I nicked myself while I was shaving.
  • # To make a cross cut or cuts on the underside of (the tail of a horse, in order to make the animal carry it higher).
  • # To mar; to deface; to make ragged, as by cutting nicks or notches in.
  • #* Prior
  • And thence proceed to nicking sashes.
  • #* Shakespeare
  • The itch of his affection should not then / Have nicked his captainship.
  • To suit or fit into, as by a correspondence of nicks; to tally with.
  • * Camden
  • Words nicking and resembling one another are applicable to different significations.
  • # To hit at, or in, the nick; to touch rightly; to strike at the precise point or time.
  • #* L'Estrange
  • The just season of doing things must be nicked , and all accidents improved.
  • # To throw or turn up (a number when playing dice); to hit upon.
  • #* {{quote-book, year=1773
  • , author=Oliver Goldsmith , title=She Stoops to Conquer , text=My old luck: I never nicked seven that I did not throw ames ace three times following.}}
  • # (cricket) to hit the ball with the edge of the bat and produce a fine deflection
  • (obsolete) To nickname; to style.
  • * Ford
  • For Warbeck, as you nick him, came to me.
  • (slang) To steal.
  • Someone's nicked my bike!
  • (transitive, British, slang) To arrest.
  • The police nicked him climbing over the fence of the house he'd broken into.

    sting

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A bump left on the skin after having been stung.
  • A bite by an insect.
  • A pointed portion of an insect or arachnid used for attack.
  • A sharp, localised pain primarily on the epidermis
  • (botany) A sharp-pointed hollow hair seated on a gland which secretes an acrid fluid, as in nettles.
  • The thrust of a sting into the flesh; the act of stinging; a wound inflicted by stinging.
  • * Shakespeare
  • the lurking serpent's mortal sting
  • (law enforcement) A police operation in which the police pretend to be criminals in order to catch a criminal.
  • A short percussive phrase played by a drummer to accent the punchline in a comedy show.
  • A brief sequence of music used in films, TV as a form of punctuation in a dramatic or comedic scene. In certain videogames stings are used to predict immediate future actions or to illustrate a current tension or mood.
  • A support for a wind tunnel model which extends parallel to the air flow.
  • *
  • (figurative) The harmful or painful part of something.
  • * Bible, 1 Corinthians xv. 56
  • The sting of death is sin.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=January 19 , author=Jonathan Stevenson , title=Leeds 1 - 3 Arsenal , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Just as it appeared Arsenal had taken the sting out of the tie, Johnson produced a moment of outrageous quality, thundering a bullet of a left foot shot out of the blue and into the top left-hand corner of Wojciech Szczesny's net with the Pole grasping at thin air. }}
  • A goad; incitement.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • The point of an epigram or other sarcastic saying.
  • Synonyms
    * (pointed portion of an insect) stinger

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) stingen, from (etyl) . Compare Swedish and Icelandic stinga.

    Verb

  • To hurt, usually by introducing poison or a sharp point, or both.
  • Right so came out an adder of a little heathbush, and it stung a knight in the foot.
    Still, it stung when a slightly older acquaintance asked me why I couldn't do any better.
  • (of an insect) To bite.
  • (sometimes figurative) To hurt, to be in pain.
  • My hand stings after knocking on the door so long.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=January 11 , author=Jonathan Stevenson , title=West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=But Birmingham were clearly stung by some harsh words from manager Alex McLeish at the break and within 15 minutes of the restart the game had an entirely different complexion.}}
  • (figurative) To cause harm or pain to.
  • I thought I could park in front of the hotel, but they stung me for five pounds!
    Derived terms
    * sting like a bee * stingy

    Anagrams

    * English irregular verbs ----