Nickel Meaning
/ˈnɪk.əl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA silvery elemental metal with an atomic number of 28 and symbol Ni.
nounA coin worth 5 cents.
Sentence Examples
Nickel is a hard, silver-white metal.
A nickel is a five-cent coin.
I just found a nickel in the street.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The vending machine only accepts quarters, dimes, and ____ coins.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Stainless steel is an alloy that often contains a small amount of ____.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"That is just objectively terrifying regardless of contexts! He looks like if a nickel did cocaine!"
— 2017 October 8, “Confederacy”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 4, episode 26, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:
"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."
— 1945, The Saturday Evening Post, volume 217, Curtis Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 79:
"Many types of nickels were used in psychological warfare. Classified according to general purpose, there were strategic and tactical leaflets."
— 1948, The Army Air Forces in World War II, volume 3, Office of Air Force History, →ISBN, page 495:
"Nickels, the code-name for propaganda leaflets, were ordinary 8-1/2×11" sheets of paper either printed on both sides or folded in half and printed on all four sides. […] On most of our flights, after leaving the DZ or landing strip we distributed 150 to 450 pounds of nickels over designated areas, and a few of our missions were nickel runs only."
— 2010, Richard H. Kraemer, The Secret War in the Balkans, Author House, →ISBN, page 136:
"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."
— 1948, The Army Air Forces in World War II, volume 3, Office of Air Force History, →ISBN, pages 496–497:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The vending machine only accepts quarters, dimes, and ____ coins.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Stainless steel is an alloy that often contains a small amount of ____.