Hypertext Webster Gateway: "nickel"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Nickel \Nick"el\, n. [G., fr. Sw. nickel, abbrev. from Sw.
kopparnickel copper-nickel, a name given in derision, as it
was thought to be a base ore of copper. The origin of the
second part of the word is uncertain. Cf. {Kupfer-nickel},
{Copper-nickel}.]
1. (Chem.) A bright silver-white metallic element. It is of
the iron group, and is hard, malleable, and ductile. It
occurs combined with sulphur in millerite, with arsenic in
the mineral niccolite, and with arsenic and sulphur in
nickel glance. Symbol Ni. Atomic weight 58.6.
Note: On account of its permanence in air and inertness to
oxidation, it is used in the smaller coins, for plating
iron, brass, etc., for chemical apparatus, and in
certain alloys, as german silver. It is magnetic, and
is very frequently accompanied by cobalt, both being
found in meteoric iron.
2. A small coin made of or containing nickel; esp., a
five-cent piece. [Colloq. U.S.]
{Nickel silver}, an alloy of nickel, copper, and zinc; --
usually called {german silver}; called also {argentan}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
nickel
adj 1: costing 5 dollars; slang for the price of unlawful drugs; "a
nickel bag"
2: priced at 5 cents; "I can still remember when a nickel
ice-cream cone cost only 10 cents"
n 1: a hard malleable ductile silvery metallic element that is
resistant to corrosion; used in alloys; occurs in
pentlandite and smaltite and garnierite and millerite
[syn: {Ni}, {atomic number 28}]
2: a US coin worth one twentieth of a dollar
v : plate with nickel; "nickel the plate"
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