I. adjective
1. : involving or offering only a small amount of money
nickel-and-dime insurance claims
nickel-and-dime jobs
2. : small-time
nickel-and-dime dealers
II. transitive verb
( nickeled-and-dimed or nickel-and-dimed ; nickeled-and-dimed or nickel-and-dimed ; nickeling-and-diming or nickel-and-diming ; nickels-and-dimes or nickel-and-dimes )
: to impair, weaken, or defeat piecemeal (as through a series of small incursions or excessive attention to minor details)
nickeled-and-dimed the Democrats to defeat … upstate — Pittsburgh (Pa.) Press
also : to pester, impoverish, or reduce by small sums
prove their mettle by nickel-and-diming your budget — W.G.McDonald
wanted to nickel-and-dime its customers to death — J.C.Dvorak