noun

1. a hard, silver-white, malleable metallic chemical element, used extensively in alloys, batteries, and for plating because of its resistance to oxidation: symbol, Ni; at. no., 28
2. ☆ a U.S. or Canadian coin made of an alloy of nickel and copper and equal to 5 cents

Etymology: Swed: contr. (1754) by A. F. Cronstedt (1722-65), Swed mineralogist < kopparnickel, niccolite < Ger kupfernickel, false nickel (< kupfer, + nickel, goblin, devil, pejorative contr. < Nikolaus, Nicholas, prob. infl. by nix: see nix): term used by Ger miners because in spite of looking like copper the ore contains none: see cobalt

transitive verb nickeled -·eled or nickelled -·elled, nickeling -·el·ing or nickelling -·el·ling