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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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:
Global production of tungsten is estimated 85,000 tonnes in 2025, according to a US government estimate, a fraction of the figure for metals like copper or nickel.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
"Elevated concentrations of cadmium and nickel in freshwater, and cadmium and arsenic in soil, were largely confined to Deene Quarry and a former slag heap in Weldon," the group added.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
Oh yes, that extra nickel is before taxes.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
LME 3-month nickel is up 0.3% at $16,675/ton.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Didn’t know why a boy’d toss a nickel, but I figured I’d asked enough already, so I picked up the book, then reread the ending of the story of Dead and his son Icky.
From "Worth" by A. LaFaye
The chain bundled food with items like character buttons, wooden nickels, hand puppets and drinking glasses.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
Going from a bulky commercial hydrogen sensor to a smart device about the size of a stack of three nickels was a technical challenge like that of any consumer-health wearable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 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
But it seems there is more to it, more things to be memorized, more songs to be sung, more nickels to be donated, before he can be truly appeased.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
“It’s the fastest way to degrade your loyalty and satisfaction among the people who are traveling with you, because they feel like they’re being nickeled and dimed,” Taylor told me.
From Slate ● May 12, 2026
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
Another touch—exactly what or where Pape did not see—caused a panel to slide back, disclosing the nickeled face of a wall safe.
From Lonesome Town by Ethel Dorrance
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
Amber entered, his eyes quick, his right hand in his pocket and grateful for the cold caress of nickelled steel, his body poised lightly and tensely upon the balls of his feet—in a word, ready.
From The Bronze Bell by Louis Joseph Vance
A huge basin full of hot water stood ready under the nickelled faucets.
From Aliens by William McFee
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
Every gaze was welded to the tiny nickelled box.
From The Spoilers by Rex Ellingwood Beach
“Sometimes it feels like the college is nickeling and diming you,” Kantrowitz said.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 25, 2016
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
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
