First recorded in 1870–75
First recorded in 1880–85
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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 Welsh, Peter C.
Her name in full appeared staring at her from the nickel plate of the dog's collar.
From The Fifth Wheel A Novel by Prouty, Olive Higgins
In the sense of the poet Goethe—that meek idolater of provincial three carat royalty and nobility—our press is certainly bankrupt in the "thrill of awe"—otherwise reverence; reverence for nickel plate and brummagem.
From The American Claimant by Twain, Mark
There was a huge fellow the nickel plate on whose cap announced that he was a piano mover.
From Turns about Town by Holliday, Robert Cortes
This film is not a coating added on the outside like paint and enamel or tin and nickel plate.
From Creative Chemistry Descriptive of Recent Achievements in the Chemical Industries by Slosson, Edwin E.
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 Barry, Etheldred B. (Etheldred Breeze)
"At the worst they can but scratch my beautiful nickel-plate," he said.
From The Marvelous Land of Oz by Baum, L. Frank (Lyman Frank)
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 Baum, L. Frank (Lyman Frank)
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
Equal parts object of design and functionality, this accordion-style corkscrew wine opener is made of nickel-plated steel and was first invented in France in the 1920s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2024
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 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 Kipling, Rudyard
The idle passengers, by this time mostly on speaking terms, begin to let the common metal of their real make-up show through the nickel-plating of the first interchange of courtesies.
From All Aboard A Story for Girls by Newberry, Fannie E.
It may be used to polish fine nickel-plating, for which purpose it is an excellent material.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
I invented a new method of nickel-plating, but it did me no good, and then I gave up that line altogether.
From The Nether World by Gissing, George
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.
