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• nickel plate
  nickel plate

  noun

  a thin coating of nickel deposited on the surface of a piece of metal, as by electroplating.
• nickel-plate
  nickel-plate

  verb (used with object)

  to coat with nickel by electroplating or other process.

nickel plate

¹ American  

noun

1. a thin coating of nickel deposited on the surface of a piece of metal, as by electroplating.

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nickel-plate ² American  

[nik-uhl-pleyt] / ˈnɪk əlˈpleɪt /

verb (used with object)

nickel-plated, nickel-plating

1. to coat with nickel by electroplating or other process.

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nickel plate British  

noun

1. a thin layer of nickel deposited on a surface, usually by electrolysis

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Etymology

Origin of nickel plate¹

First recorded in 1870–75

Origin of nickel-plate²

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nickel plate nickel-plate nickel-plated nickel-plating

There was a huge fellow the nickel plate on whose cap announced that he was a piano mover.

From Turns about Town by Robert Cortes Holliday

Her name in full appeared staring at her from the nickel plate of the dog's collar.

From The Fifth Wheel A Novel by Olive Higgins Prouty

The modern flats were delightfully airy, high up in the sun, their floors were hard-wood, their bath-rooms tiled, their kitchens all tempting enamel, and nickel plate, and shining new wood.

From Poor, Dear Margaret Kirby by Kathleen Thompson Norris

It was not a bath in the usual sense of water on tap, and shining nickel plate, but a bath for all that, where with premeditation and forethought one might bathe.

From The Street of Seven Stars by Mary Roberts Rinehart

The description of Barber's brace documents a major technical change: wood to steel, leather washers to ball bearings, and natural patina to nickel plate.

From Woodworking Tools 1600-1900 by Peter C. Welsh

If it has a bone handle and nickel-plate finish besides, the customer cannot get his money out fast enough.

From Time Magazine Archive

The trick that had to be done was to nickel-plate them inside.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is all white tiling and shining nickel-plate, as easy to keep clean as a china dish, and just a delight to work in.

From The Little Colonel's Chum: Mary Ware by Etheldred B. (Etheldred Breeze) Barry

Often Martie and Teddy had their supper at Childs', in the clean warm brightness of marble and nickel-plate.

From Martie, the Unconquered by Kathleen Thompson Norris

That nickel-plate was, I confess, a happy thought," said Nick; "and it was the more necessary because I had become somewhat scratched during my adventurous experiences.

From The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum

Rogue Paq Poppy Party Ashtray – The ultimate host’s ashtray, the Poppy Party Ashtray looks like a beautiful poppy, in polished brass or nickel-plated finishes.

From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025

For nearly two decades, karak — an elixir of sugar, dehydrated milk and cardamom-infused tea — has largely been the same price, just one nickel-plated steel dirham coin.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 24, 2022

Its rounded lower curve rested in Clark’s lap while he bear-hugged the nickel-plated instrument’s middle and the foot-thick bell horn bloomed above him.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 22, 2020

That honor goes to a nickel-plated, cigar-smoking duck he made for the 1978 movie “Convoy” about an armada of truckers who confront a crooked Arizona sheriff.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2017

That sudden drain on the nickel-plated cash register lopsided our financial stability.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

Faber invented the nickel-plating of pencil tips, pencil point protectors, rubber tips.

From Time Magazine Archive

By the time I had discovered that a profusion of nickel-plating, plush, and damask does not compensate for closeness and dust, the train ran into the daylight on the banks of the Sacramento River.

From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Rudyard Kipling

The extensive nickel-plating that became a permanent fad in this country on the discovery of a special process some years ago, is all done by electrolysis.

From Steam, Steel and Electricity by James W. Steele

Scales or circles divided on brass may be greatly improved in durability by nickel-plating.

From On Laboratory Arts by Richard Threlfall

This is always done in factories where nickel-plating is carried on, but it is inconvenient in the laboratory.

From On Laboratory Arts by Richard Threlfall