Meanings
- idiomaticAt the last possible moment; at the last minute.
He finished writing his paper and slid it under the door just in the nick of time.
3 more examples
In the nick of time he lassoed with a trounce / the low-down villains who had stubbed our toes.
1990, James Broughton, Special Deliveries: New and Selected Poems, Seattle, Wash.: Broken Moon Press, →ISBN, page 12Sir Frances stopped midrant, and just in the nick of time, for his next words would have been "veriest whipster,"
2004, Lover's Knot, pages 194, 202Happily for the Lakers, who were mincemeat without him, Nash is back in the nick of time, with the Knicks, who walked all over them in New York two weeks ago, in town for a Christmas Day game.
2012 December 24, Mark Heisler, “After Looking East to the Knicks, Nash Cut West to the Lakers”, in New York TimesSynonyms: eleventh hour, under the wire, just in time
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseAt the last possible moment; at the last minute.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbat the last possible moment
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic فِي آخِرِ لَحْظَةٍ, في اللحظة الأخيرة
- فِي آخِرِ لَحْظَةٍ (fī ʔāḵiri laḥẓatin)at the last possible moment
- في اللحظة الأخيرةat the last possible moment
- في اللحظة الحاسمةat the last possible moment
- في اللحظة الحرجةat the last possible moment
Chinese Mandarin 趕在最後一刻 /赶在最后一刻
- 趕在最後一刻 /赶在最后一刻 (gǎn zài zuìhòu yīkè)at the last possible moment
Dutch op het nippertje
- op het nippertjeat the last possible moment
Finnish viime hetkessä
- viime hetkessäat the last possible moment
French juste à temps
- juste à tempsat the last possible moment
German im letzten Augenblick
- im letzten Augenblickat the last possible moment
Greek στο παρά πέντε
- στο παρά πέντε (sto pará pénte)at the last possible moment
Hungarian az utolsó pillanatban
- az utolsó pillanatbanat the last possible moment
Icelandic á síðustu stundu, nógu snemma
- á síðustu stunduat the last possible moment
- nógu snemmaat the last possible moment
- í tæka tíðat the last possible moment
Italian all'ultimo momento, all'ultimo minuto
- all'ultimo momentoat the last possible moment
- all'ultimo minutoat the last possible moment
Lithuanian pačiu laiku
- pačiu laikuat the last possible moment
Norwegian Bokmål i siste stund, i ellevte time
- i siste stundat the last possible moment
- i ellevte timeat the last possible moment
- i siste øyeblikkat the last possible moment
- i grevens tidat the last possible moment
Polish w samą porę
- w samą poręat the last possible moment
Portuguese no último instante
- no último instanteat the last possible moment
Romanian la mustață
- la mustațăat the last possible moment
Russian в после́дний моме́нт
- в после́дний моме́нт (v poslédnij momént)at the last possible moment
Spanish en el último momento, como agua de mayo
- en el último momentoat the last possible moment
- como agua de mayoat the last possible moment
Swedish i sista stund, i elfte timmen
- i sista stundat the last possible moment
- i elfte timmenat the last possible moment
- i sista ögonblicketat the last possible moment
- i grevens tidat the last possible moment
Turkish son anda, yumurta kapıya dayanınca
- son andaat the last possible moment
- yumurta kapıya dayanıncaat the last possible moment
Cite this entry
in the nick of time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20nick%20of%20time
“in the nick of time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20nick%20of%20time. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in the nick of time,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20nick%20of%20time.
Source: in the nick of time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.