nickel-and-dime

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nickel-and-dime

She carefully nickel-and-dimed her way to a new bicycle.

Definition

  1. Verb:

    • To subject to persistent, minor financial demands or expenses; to wear down with small, frequent charges or fees. This verb form often implies a process that is draining or exploitative through many small amounts.
    • To be extremely frugal or miserly; to accumulate something gradually through the saving of very small amounts of money.

  2. Adjective:

    • Involving or dealing with small amounts of money; low-paying. Used to describe jobs or financial matters that are insignificant or poorly compensated.
    • Unimportant on a large scale; petty; small-time. Describes operations, activities, or concerns that are trivial or of minor significance.
Usage Examples

  • Verb:

    • The bank nickel-and-dimed its customers with endless fees for every small service.
    • They nickel-and-dimed their way to a down payment by saving every spare dollar for years.

  • Adjective:

    • He was tired of his nickel-and-dime job and wanted a career with a real future.
    • It was just a nickel-and-dime operation, not the large corporation the salesman claimed it to be.
Advanced Usage
  • The term is often used critically to describe a business practice perceived as greedy or customer-unfriendly.
  • It can describe a strategy of incremental, persistent effort, whether in saving money or in wearing someone down.
Variants and Related Words
  • Nickel-and-dimer (noun): A person who is very frugal or who operates a small-time, petty business.
    • He was a notorious nickel-and-dimer, always arguing over a few cents.
  • To nickel and dime someone (phrasal verb): The act of charging many small, often irritating fees.
    • The phone company is always trying to nickel and dime me with new surcharges.
Synonyms
  • Verb: Pinch pennies, scrimp, skimp, bleed dry (with small charges).
  • Adjective: Petty, small-time, trivial, minor, low-paying, paltry.
Related Idioms and Phrases
  • Penny-wise and pound-foolish: Related in concept, as it deals with focusing on small savings (pennies) while incurring large costs (pounds). "Nickel-and-dime" focuses more on the process of many small charges or efforts.
  • Small change: Literally coins of little value, used metaphorically similar to the adjective form of "nickel-and-dime."
nickel-and-dime

She carefully nickel-and-dimed her way to a new bicycle.

Verb
  1. accumulate gradually
    • she nickeled-and-dimed together a small house for her family
  2. spend money frugally; spend as little as possible
Adjective
  1. low-paying
    • a nickel-and-dime job
  2. of minor importance
    • a nickel-and-dime operation run out of a single rented room
    • a small-time actor

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