Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
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adj
Small time; operating on a small scale; involving small amounts of money; petty or cheap.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, colloquial, idiomatic
Synonyms: two-bit, ten-cent
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Fifteen years.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
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).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Canada, US, dated
Synonyms: five and ten, five-and-dime, five and dime, dollar store
Antonyms: none provided
verb
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, colloquial, idiomatic
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To wear down in small increments; to quibble or obsess endlessly with (someone) over trifles.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, colloquial, figuratively, idiomatic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From the names of two US coins of small value.
From prison or criminal slang.
After retail stores where "everything costs a nickel or a dime".
