[Goes with prec. = MDu. cnicken (Du. knikken), MLG. (whence mod.G.) knicken.] trans. and intr. To snap, or crack lightly (the fingers, etc.); to ‘knack’ lightly.
1731. Gentl. Mag., I. 350/1.
| O Gout! thou puzzling knotty point, | |
| Who knick’st man’s frame in every joint. |
17[?]. Laird o Logie, in Child, Ballads, VI. clxxxii E. (1889), 455. May Margaret sits in the queen’s bouir, Knicking her fingers ane be ane.
1887. Jamieson, 2nd Suppl. s.v., He can gar his fingers knick.
Knick, variant of NICK v., to deny.
