nip and tuck

comparative more nip and tuck · superlative most nip and tuck · alternative nip-and-tuck

1. idiomaticSo evenly matched that the advantage shifts from one to the other, and the outcome is uncertain.

   1951, Howdy Doody's Christmas Well, it was nip and tuck, but everything worked out fine. Santa Claus got there in time to bring toys to all the boys and girls.

   3 more examples

   It was nip and tuck with me between holding on to my stock and being sold out; but by great industry and prudence I managed to keep a little ahead and my mouth above water.

   1867 September, C. H. Webb, “My Mexican Mines”, in Harper's Magazine, volume XXXV, number CCVIII, page 461

   Bang! One saddle empty. Bang! another one. Bang—bang, and I bagged two. Well, it was nip and tuck with us, and I knew it.

   1889, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, New York, N.Y.: Charles L. Webster & Company, →OCLC

   We broke away toward the north, the tribe howling on our track. Across the open spaces we gained, and in the brush they caught up with us, and more than once it was nip and tuck.

   1906–1907, Jack London, chapter XII, in Before Adam

comparative more nip and tuck · superlative most nip and tuck · alternative nip-and-tuck

1. With the advantage of changing hands, or shifting back and forth among the available alternatives.

   "I am glad I happened to reach him," he said, in an effort to relieve her embarrassment. "We had it nip and tuck," he added, lightly. "My lungs are lined with dust."

   1913, Will N. Harben, The Desired Woman

   2 more examples

   A man told me that they was both admitted to practice in the S'preme Court in '39, on the same day, sir. Then you know they was nip an' tuck after the same young lady.

   1901 May, Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Crisis, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

   Obama's road to the White House was far from assured during the 2008 primary season when he ran nip and tuck with McCain in early Gallup Poll trial heats for the general election.

   2009, Alec M. Gallup, Frank Newport, Gallup Poll: Public Opinion 2008, page 379

plural nip and tucks · plural nips and tucks · alternative nip-and-tuck

1. medicineMinor cosmetic surgery that tightens loose skin.

   I watch the show where Paris Hilton and Nikki Ritchie^([sic]) live the simple life. […] It's makeovers, nip and tucks, and shopping sprees.

   2007, Joseph Natoli, This Is a Picture and Not the World: Movies and a Post-9/11 America, SUNY Press, →ISBN, page 252

   Synonyms: rhytidectomy, facelift