NICKEL-AND-DIME

I. adjective Date: 1941 involving or offering only a small amount of money, small-time , II. transitive verb (nickeled-and-dimed or ~d; nickeling-and-diming or nickel-and-diming) Date: 1961 to impair, weaken, or defeat piecemeal (as through a series of small incursions or excessive attention to minor details), to treat (as a person or situation) by paying excessive attention to small amounts of money often with a detrimental effect