Snicks

Snicks is the plural form of snick, a word with several related senses in English. The primary noun sense refers to a small notch, cut, or nick on a surface. A snick can be a shallow incision in wood, metal, or plastic, or a minor blemish such as a nick along an edge. As a verb, to snick means to cut or nick lightly, or to make a small notch. Snicks can be intentional, for alignment or shaping, or accidental, arising from careless handling or dull tools. In everyday use, a snick is often described as a scratch or nick rather than a deep cut.

In specialized contexts, snicks have more precise meanings. In woodworking and carpentry, snicks denote shallow notches or grooves made to guide joints or to locate pieces during assembly. In cricket, a snick describes a faint edge off the bat that is often heard or seen by the wicketkeeper or slips; it can lead to a dismissal when the edge is caught. Outside of sports, snicks is used to describe minor surface flaws or tiny cuts produced by tools or impact. The word is primarily informal and is rarely capitalized; in technical writing, terms such as notch, nick, scratch, or groove are preferred. Snicks as a proper noun or brand name may appear in unrelated contexts.