What does "nickel" mean?
A silvery elemental metal with an atomic number of 28 and symbol Ni.
Nickel
/ˈnɪk.əl/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A silvery elemental metal with an atomic number of 28 and symbol Ni.
- Grammar: nickel is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: atomic number 28, aureate, bar, brass.
- Useful contrasts: expensive, colorful, colorless.
- Usage evidence: Nickel is a hard, silver-white metal.
How to use "nickel"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "nickel" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "nickel" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "nickel" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "nickel" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "nickel" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "atomic number 28" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "nickel", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A silvery elemental metal with an atomic number of 28 and symbol Ni. uncountable
- 2 a United States coin worth one twentieth of a dollar wordnet
- 3 A coin worth 5 cents. Canada, US, countable
"That is just objectively terrifying regardless of contexts! He looks like if a nickel did cocaine!"
- 4 five dollars worth of a drug wordnet
- 5 Five dollars. US, broadly, countable, slang, uncountable
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 a hard malleable ductile silvery metallic element that is resistant to corrosion; used in alloys; occurs in pentlandite and smaltite and garnierite and millerite wordnet
- 7 Five hundred dollars. US, broadly, countable, slang, uncountable
- 8 Interstate 5, a highway that runs along the west coast of the United States. US, countable, slang, uncountable
- 9 A playing card with the rank of five countable, slang, uncountable
- 10 A five-year prison sentence. US, countable, slang, uncountable
- 11 A defensive formation with five defensive backs, one of whom is a nickelback, instead of the more-common four. countable, uncountable
- 12 An airborne propaganda leaflet. UK, countable, uncountable
"Colonel Hazeltine still had trouble persuading air commanders to drop the nickels. Pilots profanely protested against risking their necks on such foolishness. But in the end 15,000,000 leaflets a week were being dropped on Sicily and Italy."
Verb
- 1 To plate with nickel. transitive
- 2 plate with nickel wordnet
- 3 To distribute airborne leaflet propaganda. UK
"The 422d Bombardment Squadron extended the scope of its operations considerably in April and "attacked" Norwegian targets with the leaflet bomb. The number of cities nickeled per mission also increased until it was common for fifteen to twenty-five to be scheduled as targets for a five-plane mission."
Adjective
- 1 Synonym of cheap: Low price and/or low value. US, dated, idiomatic, not-comparable
"Let me give you the nickel tour of the office."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname originating as a patronymic.
Example
"Nickel is a hard, silver-white metal."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "nickel"?
Common synonyms include: atomic number 28, aureate, bar, brass, brassy, brazen.
How do you use "nickel" in a sentence?
Nickel is a hard, silver-white metal.
How do you pronounce "nickel"?
Pronounced /ˈnɪk.əl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
One of the variant spellings of Nichol, a Middle English vernacular form of the given name Nicholas.