Thursday, September 11, 2025

Answers to yesterday's Bee

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The official answers for today's puzzle are:

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Number of Pangrams: 4

Maximum Puzzle Score: 326

Number of Answers: 53

Points Needed for Genius: 228

Genius requires between 28 and 45 words. You need at least an 8-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangrams, you need 85% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangrams, you only need 63% of the remaining points to reach genius.

Other days with this pangram:

The button below will reveal a chart with the number of words by each letter. Red bars indicate that there is a pangram(s) starting with that letter.


How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

Today's score of 326 was in the 96th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on August 30, 2025.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 53 possible answers rank it in the 81st percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on September 9, 2025.
The highest number of answers was 81 on June 8, 2019.
The lowest number of answers was 16 on March 27, 2023.

It takes an 8-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on August 21, 2025.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 6.1.
For all Bees, the average word length has been 5.3.



Haven't I seen these letters before?

Hover over a letter to see its first and most recent appearance in the Bee!



Haven't I seen these words before?

The most common words in the Bee are:

  • noon 212
  • loll 203
  • toot 195
  • naan 179
  • nana 179
  • lilt 144
  • till 144
  • tilt 144
  • nene 139
  • tint 138
  • mama 137
  • mamma 137
  • acacia 133
  • acai 133
  • onto 129
  • toon 129
  • onion 125
  • anal 121
  • anon 121
  • tact 117
  • dodo 116
  • olio 116
  • boob 114
  • booboo 114
  • baba 113
  • papa 113
  • poop 112
  • lull 111
  • lulu 111
  • call 109
  • calla 109
  • mitt 108
  • mono 107
  • moon 107
  • ratatat 107
  • tart 107
  • tartar 107
  • tutu 107
  • attar 106
  • cocci 106
  • allay 105
  • ally 105
  • tattoo 105
  • tatty 105
  • ammo 104
  • loon 104
  • momma 104
  • epee 100
  • peep 100
  • cancan 99


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 106,669 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,777 unique words.
Below are the distributions of the lengths of these words.



Valid dictionary words not in today's official answers

You may be wondering why these words aren't here*:

  • acini
  • acinic
  • aclinic
  • alcaic
  • alkalic
  • allicin
  • ancilla
  • caca
  • cain
  • calcic
  • calcining
  • calk
  • calkin
  • calking
  • callan
  • canakin
  • canaling
  • canalling
  • canikin
  • cannikin
  • cicala
  • clag
  • clagging
  • clinal
  • gallic
  • gallica
  • gallican
  • incaging
  • inlacing
  • kiack
  • killick
  • kinnikinnick
  • klick
  • knacking
  • linac
  • nickling
  • nicknack

*Because the New York Times considers them obscure or offensive.

acacia

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A shrub or tree of the tribe Acacieae.
  2. The thickened or dried juice of several species in Acacieae, in particular Vachellia nilotica (syn. Acacia nilotica), the Egyptian acacia.
  3. A false acacia; robinia tree, Robinia pseudoacacia.
  4. Gum arabic; gum acacia.
  5. Any of several related trees, such as the locust tree.
  6. A light to moderate greenish yellow with a hint of red.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (history) A roll or bag, filled with dust, borne by Byzantine emperors, as a memento of mortality. It is represented on medals.

acai

noun
  1. Any of several South American palms, of the genus Euterpe, having a dark purple drupe.
  2. The fruit of these trees, harvested for its juice.

acing

verb
  1. (US) To pass (a test, interviews etc.) perfectly.
  2. To win a point by an ace.
  3. To make an ace (hole in one).

alack

interjection
  1. An expression of sorrow or mourning.

cackling

verb
  1. To make a sharp, broken noise or cry, as a hen or goose does.
  2. To laugh with a broken sound similar to a hen's cry.
  3. To talk in a silly manner; to prattle.
noun
  1. A sound that cackles.

caging

verb
  1. To confine in a cage; to put into and keep in a cage.
  2. To restrict someone's movement or creativity.
  3. To track individual responses to direct mail, either to maintain and develop mailing lists or to identify people who are not eligible to vote because they do not reside at the registered addresses.
noun
  1. The act of placing or trapping something in a cage.

caking

verb
  1. Coat (something) with a crust of solid material.
  2. To form into a cake, or mass.
verb
  1. To cackle like a goose.
noun
  1. A layer or deposit of caked material.

call

noun
  1. A telephone conversation.
  2. A short visit, usually for social purposes.
  3. A visit by a ship or boat to a port.
  4. A cry or shout.
  5. A decision or judgement.
  6. The characteristic cry of a bird or other animal.
  7. A beckoning or summoning.
  8. The right to speak at a given time during a debate or other public event; the floor.
  9. An option to buy stock at a specified price during or at a specified time.
  10. The act of calling to the other batsman.
  11. The state of being the batsman whose role it is to call (depends on where the ball goes.)
  12. A work shift which requires one to be available when requested (see on call).
  13. The act of jumping to a subprogram, saving the means to return to the original point.
  14. A statement of a particular state, or rule, made in many games such as bridge, craps, jacks, and so on.
  15. The act of matching a bet made by a player who has previously bet in the same round of betting.
  16. A note blown on the horn to encourage the dogs in a hunt.
  17. A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his mate to summon the sailors to duty.
  18. A pipe or other instrument to call birds or animals by imitating their note or cry. A game call.
  19. An invitation to take charge of or serve a church as its pastor.
  20. Vocation; employment; calling.
  21. A reference to, or statement of, an object, course, distance, or other matter of description in a survey or grant requiring or calling for a corresponding object, etc., on the land.
  22. (prostitution) A meeting with a client for paid sex; hookup; job.
verb
  1. (heading) To use one's voice.
  2. (heading) To visit.
  3. (heading) To name, identify or describe.
  4. (heading) Direct or indirect use of the voice.
  5. (sometimes with for) To require, demand.
  6. To announce the early extinction of a debt by prepayment, usually at a premium.
  7. To demand repayment of a loan.
  8. To jump to (another part of a program) to perform some operation, returning to the original point on completion.

calla

noun
  1. A marsh plant native to cooler areas throughout the northern hemisphere, Calla palustris, having pale green flowers in a white spathe.
  2. The calla lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica.

calling

verb
  1. (heading) To use one's voice.
  2. (heading) To visit.
  3. (heading) To name, identify or describe.
  4. (heading) Direct or indirect use of the voice.
  5. (sometimes with for) To require, demand.
  6. To announce the early extinction of a debt by prepayment, usually at a premium.
  7. To demand repayment of a loan.
  8. To jump to (another part of a program) to perform some operation, returning to the original point on completion.
noun
  1. A strong urge to become religious.
  2. A job or occupation.

canal

noun
  1. An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
  2. A tubular channel within the body.
  3. One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars.
verb
  1. To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage
  2. To travel along a canal by boat

cancan

noun
  1. A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France.
  2. (motocross) A trick where one leg is brought over the seat, so that both legs are on one side.
verb
  1. To dance the cancan.

caning

verb
  1. To strike or beat with a cane or similar implement
  2. To destroy; to comprehensively defeat
  3. To do something well, in a competent fashion
  4. To produce extreme pain
  5. To make or furnish with cane or rattan.
noun
  1. A beating with a cane.

canna

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Any member of the genus Canna of tropical plants with large leaves and often showy flowers.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A measure of length in Italy, varying from six to seven feet.

canning

verb
  1. To seal in a can.
  2. To preserve by heating and sealing in a jar or can.
  3. To discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
  4. To shut up.
  5. To fire or dismiss an employee.
  6. To hole the ball.
noun
  1. The process of preserving food by heat processing in a sealed vessel (a sealed jar or can).
  2. The practice of collecting aluminum cans or other recyclable objects; making money by collecting and selling such things.

cilia

noun
  1. Hairs or similar protrusions along the margin of a plant organ.
  2. A hairlike organelle projecting from a eukaryotic cell (such as a unicellular organism or one cell of a multicelled organism). These structures serve either for locomotion by moving or as sensors.
  3. One of the fine hairs along an insect's wing.

clack

noun
  1. An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk.
  2. Anything that causes a clacking noise, such as the clapper of a mill, or a clack valve.
  3. Chatter; prattle.
  4. The tongue.
verb
  1. To make a sudden, sharp noise, or succession of noises; to click.
  2. To cause to make a sudden, sharp noise, or succession of noises; to click.
  3. To chatter or babble; to utter rapidly without consideration.
  4. To cut the sheep's mark off (wool), to make the wool weigh less and thus yield less duty.

clacking

verb
  1. To make a sudden, sharp noise, or succession of noises; to click.
  2. To cause to make a sudden, sharp noise, or succession of noises; to click.
  3. To chatter or babble; to utter rapidly without consideration.
  4. To cut the sheep's mark off (wool), to make the wool weigh less and thus yield less duty.
noun
  1. A sound that clacks.

clan

noun
  1. A group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief.
  2. A traditional social group of families in the Scottish Highlands having a common hereditary chieftain
  3. Any group defined by family ties with some sort of political unity.
  4. A group of players who habitually play on the same team in multiplayer games.
  5. A badger colony.

clang

noun
  1. A loud, ringing sound, like that made by free-hanging metal objects striking each other.
  2. Quality of tone.
  3. The cry of some birds, including the crane and the goose.
  4. A word or phrase linked only by sound and not by meaning, characteristic of some mental disorders.
verb
  1. To strike (objects) together so as to produce a clang.
  2. To give out a clang; to resound.
noun
  1. Any periodic sound, especially one composed of a fundamental and harmonics, as opposed to simple periodic sounds (sine tones).

clanging

verb
  1. To strike (objects) together so as to produce a clang.
  2. To give out a clang; to resound.
noun
  1. A noise that clangs.
  2. A mode of speech (or writing) characterized by compulsive association of words based upon sound rather than meaning.

clank

noun
  1. A loud, hard sound of metal hitting metal.
verb
  1. To make a clanking sound
  2. To cause to sound with a clank.

clanking

verb
  1. To make a clanking sound
  2. To cause to sound with a clank.
noun
  1. A noise that clanks.

click

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A brief, sharp, not particularly loud, relatively high-pitched sound produced by the impact of something small and hard against something hard, such as by the operation of a switch, a lock or a latch, or a finger pressed against the thumb and then released to strike the hand.
  2. An ingressive sound made by coarticulating a velar or uvular closure with another closure.
  3. Sound made by a dolphin.
  4. The act of operating a switch, etc., so that it clicks.
  5. The act of pressing a button on a computer mouse, both as a physical act and a reaction in the software.
  6. A pawl or similar catch.
verb
  1. To cause to make a click; to operate (a switch, etc) so that it makes a click.
  2. To press and release (a button on a computer mouse).
  3. To select a software item using, usually, but not always, the pressing of a mouse button.
  4. To visit a web site.
  5. To navigate by clicking a mouse button.
  6. To emit a click.
  7. To make sense suddenly.
  8. To get on well.
  9. To tick.
  10. To take (a photograph) with a camera.
interjection
  1. The sound of a click.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A brief, sharp, not particularly loud, relatively high-pitched sound produced by the impact of something small and hard against something hard, such as by the operation of a switch, a lock or a latch, or a finger pressed against the thumb and then released to strike the hand.
  2. An ingressive sound made by coarticulating a velar or uvular closure with another closure.
  3. Sound made by a dolphin.
  4. The act of operating a switch, etc., so that it clicks.
  5. The act of pressing a button on a computer mouse, both as a physical act and a reaction in the software.
  6. A pawl or similar catch.
noun
  1. A detent, pawl, or ratchet, such as that which catches the cogs of a ratchet wheel to prevent backward motion.
  2. The latch of a door.
noun
  1. A kilometer.
  2. (usually in the plural) Kilometres per hour.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A detent, pawl, or ratchet, such as that which catches the cogs of a ratchet wheel to prevent backward motion.
  2. The latch of a door.

Etymology 4

verb
  1. To snatch.

clicking

verb
  1. To cause to make a click; to operate (a switch, etc) so that it makes a click.
  2. To press and release (a button on a computer mouse).
  3. To select a software item using, usually, but not always, the pressing of a mouse button.
  4. To visit a web site.
  5. To navigate by clicking a mouse button.
  6. To emit a click.
  7. To make sense suddenly.
  8. To get on well.
  9. To tick.
  10. To take (a photograph) with a camera.
verb
  1. To snatch.
noun
  1. The sound or action of a click.

cling

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit.
  2. Adherence; attachment; devotion
verb
  1. To hold very tightly, as to not fall off.
  2. To adhere to an object, without being affixed, in such a way as to follow its contours. Used especially of fabrics and films.
  3. To cause to adhere to, especially by twining round or embracing.
  4. To cause to dry up or wither.
  5. To dry up or wither.
  6. (with preposition to) to be fond of, to feel strongly about and dependent on

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To produce a high-pitched ringing sound, like a small bell.

clinging

verb
  1. To hold very tightly, as to not fall off.
  2. To adhere to an object, without being affixed, in such a way as to follow its contours. Used especially of fabrics and films.
  3. To cause to adhere to, especially by twining round or embracing.
  4. To cause to dry up or wither.
  5. To dry up or wither.
  6. (with preposition to) to be fond of, to feel strongly about and dependent on
verb
  1. To produce a high-pitched ringing sound, like a small bell.
noun
  1. The act of one who clings.

clinic

noun
  1. A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients.
  2. (by extension) A hospital session to diagnose or treat patients.
  3. A school, or a session of a school or class, in which medicine or surgery is taught by the examination and treatment of patients in the presence of the pupils.
  4. A group practice of several physicians.
  5. A meeting for the diagnosis of problems, or training, on a particular subject.
  6. A temporary office arranged on a regular basis to allow politicians to meet their constituents.
  7. A series of workouts used to build skills of practitioners regardless of team affiliation.
  8. One confined to bed by sickness.
  9. One who receives baptism on a sickbed.

clinical

noun
  1. A medical student's session spent in a real-world nursing environment.
adjective
  1. Of or pertaining to a medical clinic or facility.
  2. Dealing with practical management of patients; contrasting with prehealth sciences.
  3. Cool and emotionless.
  4. Of or relating to a bed.

clinician

noun
  1. A healthcare provider working in a clinic or hospital.

clinking

verb
  1. To make a clinking sound; to make a sound of metal on metal or glass on glass; to strike materials such as metal or glass against one another.
  2. To rhyme.
noun
  1. A noise that clinks.

glacial

noun
  1. A glacial period (colloquially known as an ice age).
adjective
  1. Of, or relating to glaciers.
  2. Very slow.
  3. Cold and icy.
  4. Having the appearance of ice.
  5. Cool and unfriendly.

glancing

verb
  1. To look briefly (at something).
  2. To graze a surface.
  3. To sparkle.
  4. To move quickly, appearing and disappearing rapidly; to be visible only for an instant at a time; to move interruptedly; to twinkle.
  5. To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside.
  6. To hit lightly with the head, make a deft header.
  7. To make an incidental or passing reflection; to allude; to hint; often with at.
  8. A type of interaction between parent fish and offspring in which juveniles swim toward and rapidly touch the sides of the parent, in most cases feeding on parental mucus. Relatively few species glance, mainly some Cichlidae.
noun
  1. A sideways look; a glance.
adjective
  1. Making superficial, obtuse contact with something.

icing

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A sweet glaze made primarily of sugar and often flavored, typically used for baked goods; frosting.
  2. A minor violation of ice hockey rules, occurring when a player shoots the puck from his/her side of the red line so that it crosses the goal line on the opponent's side. A team playing short-handed is not penalized for this.
  3. The process of forming a layer of ice on a surface.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To cool with ice, as a beverage.
  2. To become ice; to freeze.
  3. To make icy; to freeze.
  4. To murder.
  5. To cover with icing (frosting made of sugar and milk or white of egg); to frost; as cakes, tarts, etc.
  6. To put out a team for a match.
  7. To shoot the puck the length of the playing surface, causing a stoppage in play called icing.

iliac

adjective
  1. Of or pertaining to the ilium.

inclining

verb
  1. To bend or move (something) out of a given plane or direction, often the horizontal or vertical.
  2. To slope.
  3. (chiefly in the passive) To tend to do or believe something, or move or be moved in a certain direction, away from a point of view, attitude, etc.
noun
  1. Inclination

kick

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A hit or strike with the leg, foot or knee.
  2. The action of swinging a foot or leg.
  3. Something that tickles the fancy; something fun or amusing.
  4. The removal of a person from an online activity.
  5. Any bucking motion of an object that lacks legs or feet.
  6. Piquancy.
  7. A stimulation provided by an intoxicating substance.
  8. A pass played by kicking with the foot.
  9. The distance traveled by kicking the ball.
  10. A recoil of a gun.
  11. Pocket.
  12. An increase in speed in the final part of a running race.
verb
  1. To strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg.
  2. To make a sharp jerking movement of the leg, as to strike something.
  3. To direct to a particular place by a blow with the foot or leg.
  4. (with "off" or "out") To eject summarily.
  5. To forcibly remove a participant from an online activity.
  6. To overcome (a bothersome or difficult issue or obstacle); to free oneself of (a problem).
  7. To move or push suddenly and violently.
  8. (of a firearm) To recoil; to push by recoiling.
  9. To attack (a piece) in order to force it to move.
  10. To accelerate quickly with a few pedal strokes in an effort to break away from other riders.
  11. To show opposition or resistance.
  12. To work a press by impact of the foot on a treadle.
noun
  1. One who kicks.
  2. One who takes kicks.
  3. The kicking strap.
  4. An outboard motor.
  5. An unexpected situation, detail or circumstance, often unpleasant.
  6. An enticement for investors, e.g. warranty added to the investment contract.
  7. An unpaired card which is part of a pair, two pair, or three of a kind poker hand.
  8. Small text above a headline that indicates the topic of the story.
  9. The last one or two paragraphs of a story.
  10. A lighthearted or humorous item used to round off a news broadcast.
  11. A device that periodically displaces a newspaper from the print production line, to aid in gathering the newspapers into fixed-size bundles.
  12. A launch ramp.
  13. The fermenting mass of fruit that is the basis of pruno, or "prison wine".
  14. A relaxed party.
  15. A backlight positioned at an angle.
noun
  1. A particular type of Texan who is associated with country/western attire, attitudes and/or philosophy.
noun
  1. An introduction; something that leads into the beginning of something.
  2. A region of data at the beginning of a compact disc, holding the table of contents.
  3. A short phrase that begins the caption of a photograph.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To die.

kicking

verb
  1. To strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg.
  2. To make a sharp jerking movement of the leg, as to strike something.
  3. To direct to a particular place by a blow with the foot or leg.
  4. (with "off" or "out") To eject summarily.
  5. To forcibly remove a participant from an online activity.
  6. To overcome (a bothersome or difficult issue or obstacle); to free oneself of (a problem).
  7. To move or push suddenly and violently.
  8. (of a firearm) To recoil; to push by recoiling.
  9. To attack (a piece) in order to force it to move.
  10. To accelerate quickly with a few pedal strokes in an effort to break away from other riders.
  11. To show opposition or resistance.
  12. To work a press by impact of the foot on a treadle.
verb
  1. To die.
noun
  1. The action of the verb to kick.
  2. A violent assault involving repeated kicks.
  3. A great loss or defeat; licking.
adjective
  1. Terrific, great (of clothes) smart, fashionable.
  2. Alive, active (especially in the phrase alive and kicking).
  3. (of a party or event) Actively ongoing and enjoyable.

knack

noun
  1. A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something.
  2. A petty contrivance; a toy.
  3. Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity.
verb
  1. To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise; to chink.
  2. To speak affectedly.

knickknack

noun
  1. A small ornament of minor value.

lacing

verb
  1. To fasten (something) with laces.
  2. To add alcohol, poison, a drug or anything else potentially harmful to (food or drink).
  3. To interweave items.
  4. To interweave the spokes of a bicycle wheel.
  5. To beat; to lash; to make stripes on.
  6. To adorn with narrow strips or braids of some decorative material.
noun
  1. That with which something is laced.
  2. The tied or threaded laces that form a netlike pattern.
  3. A beating as punishment; a hiding.
  4. Lagging, or cross-pieces placed to prevent ore from falling into a passage.
  5. The cords by which the boards of a book are fastened to the back.
  6. The knee of the head, or lace-piece, a piece of compass or knee timber secured to the back of the figurehead.

lack

noun
  1. A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy.
  2. A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
verb
  1. To be without, to need, to require.
  2. To be short (of or for something).
  3. To be in want.
  4. To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach.

lacking

verb
  1. To be without, to need, to require.
  2. To be short (of or for something).
  3. To be in want.
  4. To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach.
noun
  1. The absence of something; a lack.
adjective
  1. Missing or not having enough of (a good quality, etc).
  2. Not carrying a firearm.

laic

noun
  1. A layperson, as opposed to a member of the clergy.
adjective
  1. Lay, relating to laypersons, as opposed to clerical.

laical

No Definition Found.

lancing

verb
  1. To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.
  2. To open with a lancet; to pierce
  3. To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.
noun
  1. The act by which something is lanced.

lick

noun
  1. The act of licking; a stroke of the tongue.
  2. The amount of some substance obtainable with a single lick.
  3. A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of the tongue.
  4. A place where animals lick minerals from the ground.
  5. A small watercourse or ephemeral stream. It ranks between a rill and a stream.
  6. A stroke or blow.
  7. A small amount; a whit.
  8. An attempt at something.
  9. A short motif.
  10. A rate of speed. (Always qualified by good, fair, or a similar adjective.)
  11. An act of cunnilingus.
verb
  1. To stroke with the tongue.
  2. To lap; to take in with the tongue.
  3. To beat with repeated blows.
  4. To defeat decisively, particularly in a fight.
  5. To overcome.
  6. To perform cunnilingus.
  7. To do anything partially.
  8. (of flame, waves etc.) To lap.

licking

verb
  1. To stroke with the tongue.
  2. To lap; to take in with the tongue.
  3. To beat with repeated blows.
  4. To defeat decisively, particularly in a fight.
  5. To overcome.
  6. To perform cunnilingus.
  7. To do anything partially.
  8. (of flame, waves etc.) To lap.
noun
  1. An act of licking.
  2. A severe beating.
  3. A great loss or defeat.

lilac

noun
  1. A large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink or purple flowers.
  2. A flower of the lilac shrub.
  3. (color) A pale purple color, the color of some lilac flowers.
adjective
  1. Having a pale purple colour.

niacin

noun
  1. A water-soluble vitamin, a component of vitamin B complex, found in meat, yeast, and dairy products; it is essential to metabolism.

nick

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A small cut in a surface.
  2. Senses connoting something small.
  3. Often in the expressions in bad nick and in good nick: condition, state.
  4. (law enforcement) A police station or prison.
verb
  1. To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way.
  2. To fit into or suit, as by a correspondence of nicks; to tally with.
  3. To make a cut at the side of the face.
  4. To steal.
  5. (law enforcement) To arrest.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To give or call (someone) by a nickname; to style.
noun
  1. A familiar, invented given name for a person or thing used instead of the actual name of the person or thing.
  2. A kind of byname that describes a person by a characteristic of that person.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A nix or nixie.

nicking

verb
  1. To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way.
  2. To fit into or suit, as by a correspondence of nicks; to tally with.
  3. To make a cut at the side of the face.
  4. To steal.
  5. (law enforcement) To arrest.
verb
  1. To give or call (someone) by a nickname; to style.
noun
  1. The cutting made by the hewer at the side of the face.