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.
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 Rinehart, Mary Roberts
You can nickel plate a piece of copper in the following manner: Experiment 103.
From Common Science by Ritchie, John W. (John Woodside)
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
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.
He took out a nickel plate that bore his name.
From The Skipper and the Skipped Being the Shore Log of Cap'n Aaron Sproul by Day, Holman
The trick that had to be done was to nickel-plate them inside.
From Time Magazine Archive
If it has a bone handle and nickel-plate finish besides, the customer cannot get his money out fast enough.
From Time Magazine Archive
Often Martie and Teddy had their supper at Childs', in the clean warm brightness of marble and nickel-plate.
From Martie, the Unconquered by Norris, Kathleen Thompson
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)
"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)
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
They were some time acquiring a stove and when they did find what they wanted, a silver-scrolled monster with floriated warming ovens and a front like a nickel-plated tulip garden, they had trouble getting it.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
Faber invented the nickel-plating of pencil tips, pencil point protectors, rubber tips.
From Time Magazine Archive
Scales or circles divided on brass may be greatly improved in durability by nickel-plating.
From On Laboratory Arts by Threlfall, Richard
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
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
She was constructed many years ago and her nickel-plating is nearly gone.
From The Circus, and Other Essays and Fugitive Pieces by Kilmer, Joyce
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.
