English Explanatory Dictionary

nickel

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A silvery elemental metal with an atomic number of 28 and symbol Ni.
  2. A coin worth 5 cents.
  3. Five dollars.
  4. Five hundred dollars.
  5. Interstate 5, a highway that runs along the west coast of the United States.
  6. A playing card with the rank of five
  7. A five-year prison sentence.
  8. A defensive formation with five defensive backs, one of whom is a nickelback, instead of the more-common four.
  9. An airborne propaganda leaflet.
adj
  1. Synonym of cheap: Low price and/or low value.
verb
  1. To plate with nickel.
  2. To distribute airborne leaflet propaganda.
name
  1. A surname originating as a patronymic.

Pronunciation

nĭk'əl /ˈnɪk.əl/ En-us-nickel.ogg

Word forms

nickel nickels nickeling nickelling nickeled nickelled

Etymology

Borrowed from German Nickel, first used in a text by the Swedish mineralogist Axel F. Cronstedt as an abbreviation of Kupfernickel (“a mineral containing copper and nickel”), from Kupfer (“copper”) + Nickel (“insignificant person, goblin”), originally nickname of Nikolaus (“Nicholas”), due to the deceptive silver colour of the relatively valueless ore. Compare cobalt as related to kobolds.

Synonyms

jitney sixpenny tinhorn two a penny bargainous brand X budget cheap cheapie cheapo cheesy competitive economic economical el cheapo inexpensive low-cost low-end low-priced nickel unexpensive

Related words

kupfernickel niccolite nife nitinol false copper garnierite nickelling pentlandite

Derived words

allylnickel Alumel antimonial nickel arsenical nickel bismuth-nickel Chromel copper-nickel cupro-nickel cupronickel dinickel double-nickel drop a nickel ferronickel ferronickelplatinum hexanickel hot nickel if I had a nickel for every time Nibral nicad Nichrome nickel-and-dime nickel and dime nickel-antigorite nickelate nickelaustinite Nickelback nickel back nickel bag nickel-bloom nickel bronze nickel carbonyl Nickel Centre nickel chloride nickel-chlorite nickel glance nickel green nickel gymnite nickel hydride nickel hydroxide nickelian nickelic nickeliferous nickeline nickel-in-the-slot nickel-iron nickelisation nickelise nickelite nickelization nickelize nickelless nickellike nickel nitrate nickel note nickel nurser nickelocene nickel ocher nickel ochre nickelodeon nickelous
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