Knick or nick?
knick is a verb meaning “Alternative spelling of nick (“to make a notch in”)”; nick is a verb meaning “To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) nick is about 79 times as common as knick.
What is the difference between knick and nick?
| knick | nick | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | Alternative spelling of nick (“to make a notch in”) | A small deflection of the ball off the edge of the bat, often going to the wicket-keeper for a catch One of the single-stranded DNA segments produced during nick translation To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way |
| Example | none recorded | in the nick of time |
| Forms | knicks, knicking, knicked | nicks, nicking, nicked |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /nɪk/ |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words | 39 times per million words |
Sources: knick and nick in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of knick and nick
knick
- 1
Alternative spelling of nick (“to make a notch in”)
nick
- 1
datedA notch cut crosswise in the shank of a type, to assist a compositor in placing it properly in the stick, and in distribution
- 2
To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way
I nicked myself while I was shaving
- 3
Clipping of nickname
a user’s reserved nick on an IRC network
- 4
A small deflection of the ball off the edge of the bat, often going to the wicket-keeper for a catch
- 5
To make ragged or uneven, as by cutting nicks or notches in; to deface, to mar
- 6
One of the single-stranded DNA segments produced during nick translation
- 7
To make a cut at the side of the face
- 8
The point where the wall of the court meets the floor
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, knick or nick?
knick appears about once in every 2 million words; nick 39 times per million words.
knick about once in every 2 million wordsnick 39 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search knick vs nick?
“knick vs nick” is searched about 210 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“nick vs knick”, “knick or nick”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.