nickel and dime
To charge, or be charged, several unexpected small amounts of money, often in the form…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.
» Don't let him nickel-and-dime you.
Teangloir · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
2 senses(US, colloquial, idiomatic)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.
I got nickel and dimed to death by the phone company's sneaky extra charges.
It seems like a great offer, but they will just nickel and dime you until you've spent more than retail anyway.
(US, colloquial, figuratively, idiomatic)To wear down in small increments; to quibble or obsess endlessly with (someone) over trifles.
Examples
1 sentencesDon't let him nickel-and-dime you.
Origin
From the names of two US coins of small value.From the names of two US coins of small value.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
nickel and dimes, nickel and diming, nickel and dimed, nickel and dimed| Base form | nickel and dime · to nickel and dime |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | nickel and dimes |
| Present participle | nickel and diming |
| Past simple | nickel and dimed / nickeled and dimed / nickelled and dimed |
| Past participle | nickel and dimed / nickeled and dimed / nickelled and dimed |
regular
Word family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, irregular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle