nickel

Meaning

Noun

1. A silvery elemental metal with an atomic number of 28 and symbol Ni.
2. A coin worth 5 cents.
3. (slang) Five dollars.
4. (slang) Five hundred dollars.
5. (slang) 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. (slang) A five-year prison sentence.
8. A defensive formation with five defensive backs, one of whom is a nickelback, instead of the more common four.
9. An airborne propaganda leaflet.

Adj

Synonym of cheap: Low price and/or low value.

Verb

1. To plate with nickel.
2. To distribute airborne leaflet propaganda.

Synonyms

Ni

lightweight

cheap

five cent coin

atomic number 28

nickel note

damn

nickel-plate

five cents

plate with nickel

5 cent piece

nickelize

five-cent piece

bucky

jit

nickel plate

sou

fivepence

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈnɪk.əl/

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.