nickel and dime

== English == === Pronunciation === (US) IPA(key): /ˌnɪkəl ən ˈdaɪm/ === Alternative forms === nickel-and-dime === Etymology 1 === From the names of two US coins of small value. ==== Adjective ==== nickel and dime (US, idiomatic, colloquial) Small time; operating on a small scale; involving small amounts of money; petty or cheap. Near-synonyms: two-bit, ten-cent ==== Verb ==== nickel and dime (third-person singular simple present nickel and dimes or nickels and dimes, present participle nickel and diming or (US) nickeling and diming or (UK) nickelling and diming, simple past and past participle nickel and dimed or (US) nickeled and dimed or (UK) nickelled and dimed) (US, idiomatic, colloquial) To charge, or be charged, several unexpected small amounts of money, often in the form of fees, taxes, or related expenses to a venture, which when taken as a whole add up to a significant unexpected cost. (US, idiomatic, colloquial, figuratively) To wear down in small increments; to quibble or obsess endlessly with (someone) over trifles. ==== See also ==== fleece === Etymology 2 === From prison or criminal slang. ==== Noun ==== nickel and dime (US, slang) Fifteen years. === Etymology 3 === After retail stores where “everything costs a nickel or a dime” ==== Noun ==== nickel and dime (plural nickel and dimes) (US and Canada, dated) A retail store selling inexpensive items, especially (originally, formerly) one in which all items had a price near a nickel (US five cents) or a dime (US ten cents). Synonyms: five and ten, five-and-dime, five and dime Near-synonym: dollar store (idiomatically synonymous in the 21st century)