nickel
Americannoun
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Chemistry. a hard, silvery-white, ductile and malleable metallic element, allied to iron and cobalt, not readily oxidized: used chiefly in alloys, in electroplating, and as a catalyst in organic synthesis. Ni; 58.71; 28; 8.9 at 20°C.
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a cupronickel coin of the U.S., the 20th part of a dollar, equal to five cents.
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a nickel coin of Canada, the 20th part of a dollar, equal to five cents.
verb (used with object)
adjective
noun
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a malleable ductile silvery-white metallic element that is strong and corrosion-resistant, occurring principally in pentlandite and niccolite: used in alloys, esp in toughening steel, in electroplating, and as a catalyst in organic synthesis. Symbol: Ni; atomic no: 28; atomic wt: 58.6934; valency: 0, 1, 2, or 3; relative density: 8.902; melting pt: 1455°C; boiling pt: 2914°C
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a US and Canadian coin and monetary unit worth five cents
verb
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A silvery, hard, ductile metallic element that occurs in ores along with iron or magnesium. It resists oxidation and corrosion and is used to make alloys such as stainless steel. It is also used as a coating for other metals. Atomic number 28; atomic weight 58.69; melting point 1,453°C; boiling point 2,732°C; specific gravity 8.902; valence 0, 1, 2, 3.
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See Periodic Table
Usage
What else does nickel mean? Nickel is a slang term for "five" of anything, especially a small bag of drugs costing five dollars or five-year prison sentence.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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nickelsimple
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nickelssimple
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have nickeledperfect
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have nickelledperfect
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has nickeledperfect
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has nickelledperfect
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am nickelingprogressive
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am nickellingprogressive
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are nickelingprogressive
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are nickellingprogressive
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is nickelingprogressive
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is nickellingprogressive
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have been nickelingperfect progressive
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have been nickellingperfect progressive
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has been nickelingperfect progressive
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has been nickellingperfect progressive
Past
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nickeledsimple
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nickelledsimple
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had nickeledperfect
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had nickelledperfect
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was nickelingprogressive
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was nickellingprogressive
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were nickelingprogressive
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were nickellingprogressive
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had been nickelingperfect progressive
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had been nickellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of nickel
1745–55; < Swedish, abstracted from kopparnickel < German Kupfernickel niccolite, literally, copper demon (so called because though looking like copper it yielded none); Nickel demon, special use of short form of Nikolaus proper name. Cf. Old Nick, pumpernickel
Explanation
A nickel is a five-cent coin that got its name from the metal. Nickel is a silver-colored metal that’s strong and resistant to corrosion, so it’s often blended with other metals. Even the coin is part copper. For most people, a nickel means five cents. The coin is mostly copper, but about 25 percent of it is actually nickel. The word comes from the German Kupfernickel, for “copper demon” because miners were tricked as they first thought the nickel was copper. The original US five cent coins were made of silver, and were known as "half dimes." During the Civil War, new coins began to be minted using less expensive materials — thus, the nickel was born.
Vocabulary lists containing nickel
Pacific Islands - Introductory
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Black and Gray
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But they shouldn’t contribute another nickel beyond that.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
You could presumably use the fortune teller thing from “The Twilight Zone,” where you put a nickel in and a little slip of paper comes out.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
"It will be exciting to see future sodium-ion technologies that are free of nickel and copper, as well, while achieving competitive energy density," he said.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 21, 2026
If only I had a nickel for every time a reader suggested that.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026
Looking for Liam is like looking for a nickel in a dumpster full of trash.
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
The chain bundled food with items like character buttons, wooden nickels, hand puppets and drinking glasses.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
“We have to do a better job to find those pennies out there—those pennies, nickels and dimes to save and not turn the lights on until you need to,” he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
He also thinks the government savings from not producing pennies will be offset by the need for more nickels, which are worth five cents but cost nearly 14 cents to make.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2025
“We don’t take those wooden nickels anymore,” he said.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2025
I could hear his hands jingling keys and nickels and pennies.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
Marina thought there was inadequate medical oversight, and said the program "nickeled and dimed" her for additional services, like physicians' visits, that she thought would be included.
From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2023
“I can’t think of a worse business – high fixed costs, commodity product, worsening service, alienated customers sick of being nickeled and dimed for every amenity.”
From Reuters ● Sep. 9, 2022
As a start-up entrepreneur, Behzadzadeh nursed a swelling grudge against the contractors and vendors who nickeled and dimed him, he thought, at every turn — maybe even Safe Harbor.
From New York Times ● Jan. 4, 2018
Teams this time of year are good enough to survive being nickeled and dimed for a run every couple innings.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 5, 2017
Attractively covered with best imitation leather, and metal parts are highly nickeled.
From Kodaks and Kodak Supplies 1914 by Canadian Kodak Company
We sat on high stools at the bar while the barman shook the Martinis in a large nickelled shaker.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
Pressing plates, plates of metal japanned or nickelled, used for giving finish to the leather on a book.
From Bookbinding, and the Care of Books A handbook for Amateurs, Bookbinders & Librarians by Rooke, Noel
Every gaze was welded to the tiny nickelled box.
From The Spoilers by Beach, Rex Ellingwood
Around his neck was a broad nickelled collar.
From A Man's Woman by Norris, Frank
The barkeeper took his coin and maneuvered it through its reception by the highly nickelled cash-machine.
From The Monster and Other Stories by Crane, Stephen
“Sometimes it feels like the college is nickeling and diming you,” Kantrowitz said.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 25, 2016
Commercial practice in the matter of the composition of nickelling solutions appears to vary a good deal.
From On Laboratory Arts by Threlfall, Richard
One shining in the freshness of new nickelling; the other an old thing of battered tin, with faded gold letters.
From A Top-Floor Idyl by Van Schaick, George
The treatment in hot baths of alkali and cyanide is the method generally employed in American factories as a preliminary to the nickelling of small brass work for sewing machines, etc.
From On Laboratory Arts by Threlfall, Richard
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
