nickel
Americannoun
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nickels
plural
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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)
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nickels,
present (3rd person singular)
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nickeled,
past participle, past
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nickelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
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nickeling,
present participle
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nickelling
present participle (especially British)
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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Pacific Islands - Middle School and High School
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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:
Oh yes, that extra nickel is before taxes.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
Between 2012 and 2023, official gold production nearly quadrupled from 13 to 51 tonnes, while the country also boasts veins of iron, diamonds, nickel, manganese, bauxite, copper and coltan.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
Even so, its overall performance was comparable to that of an 8.0 wt% Ni/Al2O3 catalyst produced through impregnation, despite containing only one tenth as much nickel.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
By April that had grown to $3.5 billion across 11 named projects spanning gallium, neodymium-praseodymium, graphite, tungsten, nickel, tantalum and magnesium.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
‘How come I didn’t think of that! I bet a nickel my little scared Bubber been staying in my home all the time.’
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
The overall energy of the trip and the relationships strengthened by shared experience are worth much more than the nickels and dimes you won’t miss in the long run.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
“It is low volatility until it is not. The trick is not to pretend that intervention cannot happen. It is to avoid picking up nickels in front of it.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
The chain bundled food with items like character buttons, wooden nickels, hand puppets and drinking glasses.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 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
He tucked it into his shirt pocket and sent pennies, nickels, and dimes skidding across the floor as he concentrated on quarters.
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
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
“It does seem people feel they are being nickeled and dimed on paperwork,” Mr. Brown said.
From New York Times ● Nov. 13, 2017
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
Film Premos No. 1 are very attractive in appearance; they are made of seasoned wood, with bed and back panel of aluminum, covered with seal grain leather, and metal parts are beautifully nickeled.
From Premo Cameras 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
The barkeeper took his coin and maneuvered it through its reception by the highly nickelled cash-machine.
From The Monster and Other Stories by Stephen Crane
In the pocket of a hanging coat was thrust a nickelled rod from a patent trousers-stretcher, so that it pointed out into the room.
From The Sins of Séverac Bablon by Sax Rohmer
He stepped from the portieres to the safe, and the flashlight played again—this time reflecting back from the glistening nickelled knobs.
From The Adventures of Jimmie Dale by Frank L. (Frank Lucius) Packard
It was brightly lighted by two nickelled lamps; flowers were fastened against the panelling, and clusters of them stood upon the table, which was covered with a spotless cloth.
From The Protector by Harold Bindloss
“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 Richard Threlfall
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 George Van Schaick
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 Richard Threlfall
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.
