Meaning & use
nicker
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableBritishinformalslang
A pound in British money, used in casual talk, especially when naming a price or sum.
Grammar: After a number the plural is usually the same: fifty nicker, not fifty nickers.
Patterns
- a hundred nicker
- cost someone ten nicker
That jacket set me back fifty nicker.
He lent me twenty nicker until payday.
It's only five nicker to get into the market stalls.
verbintransitive
Of a horse, to make a quiet, soft, breathy sound, often when greeting someone or expecting food.
Grammar: Has no object: the mare nickered.
Patterns
- nicker at someone
- nicker softly
The pony nickered when it saw the bucket of oats.
Our old mare nickers every morning when she hears the barn door.
A horse in the next stall nickered softly as we walked by.
Word forms
| third person singular | nickers |
|---|---|
| past tense | nickered |
| past participle | nickered |
| -ing form | nickering |
Common combinations
- fifty nicker
- The taxi from the station cost fifty nicker.
- a couple of nicker
- Can you spare a couple of nicker for the parking meter?
- nicker softly
- The foal nickered softly beside its mother.
- nicker in greeting
- The horses nickered in greeting as the farmer arrived.
- nicker for food
- The ponies nickered for food whenever anyone passed the gate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- quid
- Quid is the more widely used British slang for a pound, while nicker feels slightly less common and often goes with larger round sums.
- pound
- Pound is the neutral, standard word that suits any context, while nicker is chatty slang.
- whinny
- Whinny is a higher, louder horse call, whereas to nicker is a quieter, lower sound made close to a person or other horse.
- neigh
- Neigh is the general word for a horse's cry, while nicker is a specific gentle, friendly sound.
Word family
- nickering noun
- the soft sound a horse makes
Commonly confused: nicker or knickers? nicker or snicker?
nicker vs knickers
Knickers are women's underpants in British English and are not a unit of money, though they sound close to the plural nickers.
nicker vs snicker
To snicker is to laugh quietly in a mocking way, which is unrelated to horses or money.
Practice
A British friend says, 'That ticket cost me thirty nicker.' What does she mean?
Choose one answer.
Nicker is informal British slang for pounds. It is not used for pence, euros or dollars.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nicker”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.