a malleable ductile silvery-white metallic element that is strong and corrosion-resistant, occurring principally in pentlandite and niccolite: used in alloys, esp in toughening steel, in electroplating, and as a catalyst in organic synthesis. Symbol: Ni; atomic no: 28; atomic wt: 58.6934; valency: 0, 1, 2, or 3; relative density: 8.902; melting pt: 1455°C; boiling pt: 2914°C
2.
a US and Canadian coin and monetary unit worth five cents
verbWord forms: -els, -elling, -elledWord forms: US-els, -eling or -eled
3. (transitive)
to plate with nickel
Word origin
C18: shortened form of German Kupfernickelniccolite, literally: copper demon, so called by miners because it was mistakenly thought tocontain copper