nickel

nickel

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of nickel in English

English Online Dictionary. What means nickel‎? What does nickel mean?

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German Nickel, first used in a text by the Swedish mineralogist Axel F. Cronstedt as an abbreviation of Kupfernickel (a mineral containing copper and nickel), from Kupfer (copper) + Nickel (insignificant person, goblin), originally nickname of Nikolaus (Nicholas), due to the deceptive silver colour of the relatively valueless ore. Compare cobalt as related to kobolds.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: nĭk'əl, IPA(key): /ˈnɪk.əl/
  • Rhymes: -ɪkəl

Noun

nickel (countable and uncountable, plural nickels)

  1. (uncountable) A silvery elemental metal with an atomic number of 28 and symbol Ni.
  2. (US, Canada, countable) A coin worth 5 cents.
    Coordinate term: dime
  3. (US, slang, by extension) Five dollars.
  4. (US, slang, by extension) Five hundred dollars.
  5. (US, slang, sometimes the nickel or the hot nickel) Interstate 5, a highway that runs along the west coast of the United States.
  6. (slang) A playing card with the rank of five
  7. (US, slang) A five-year prison sentence.
  8. (American football) A defensive formation with five defensive backs, one of whom is a nickelback, instead of the more-common four.
  9. (UK, World War II) An airborne propaganda leaflet.

Derived terms

Related terms

  • kupfernickel
  • niccolite
  • nife
  • nitinol

Translations

Adjective

nickel (not comparable)

  1. (US, idiomatic, somewhat dated) Synonym of cheap: Low price and/or low value.

Verb

nickel (third-person singular simple present nickels, present participle nickeling or nickelling, simple past and past participle nickeled or nickelled)

  1. (transitive) To plate with nickel.
  2. (UK, World War II) To distribute airborne leaflet propaganda.

Translations

See also

  • false copper
  • garnierite
  • nickelling
  • pentlandite

References

  • Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. →ISBN

Anagrams

  • Nickle, inleck, nickle

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ni.kɛl/

Noun

nickel m (countable and uncountable, plural nickels)

  1. (usually uncountable) nickel (metal)
  2. (countable) atom of nickel

Related terms

  • nickelage
  • nickeler

Adjective

nickel (invariable)

  1. (slang) spotless
  2. (slang) perfect, bang on

Derived terms

  • nickellement

Further reading

  • “nickel”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

nickel n

  1. nickel (chemical element)
  2. a coin of small, but undetermined value

Declension

Related terms

  • (coin): inte ett nickel

References

  • nickel in Svensk ordbok (SO)
  • nickel in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
  • nickel in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
  • Svensk MeSH

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.