nickel

▪ I. nickel, n.
    (ˈnɪk(ə)l)
    [Named by the Swedish mineralogist Axel F. von Cronstedt in 1754, by abbreviation of G. kupfernickel, the mining name of the copper-coloured ore (niccolite) from which the metal was first obtained by Cronstedt in 1751.
    The second element in kupfernickel is app. G. nickel, dwarf, rascal, mischievous demon, the name being given to the ore because it actually yielded no copper in spite of its appearance (cf. the etym. note to cobalt). Both kupfernickel and copper nickel (see copper n.¹ 12) have been commonly employed in English as names of this variety of nickel-ore. For an earlier abbreviation in a different sense see nicol¹.]
    1. A hard silvery-white lustrous mineral, usually occurring in combination with arsenic or sulphur and associated with cobalt; it is both malleable and ductile, and is now largely employed for various purposes, esp. in alloys.

1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 541 From the name of this mineral [kupfernickel] he [Cronstedt] gives the metal the name of Nickel. 1772 Priestley in Phil. Trans. LXII. 249 Bismuth and nickel are dissolved in the marine acid. 1786 Ibid. LXXVI. 63 There are..persons who have denied the magnetism of purified nickel. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. I. 396 It appears that nickel was employed by the Chinese long before it was proved to be a distinct metal. 1822 J. Imison Sci. & Art II. 118 Nickel alloys with most of the metals. 1858 Homans Cycl. Comm. 1443/1 Nickel forms twelve per cent. of the new cent authorized by Congress in 1857. 1869 Roscoe Elem. Chem. (1871) 230 German silver is an alloy of zinc, nickel, and copper.

    2. U.S. † a. A one-cent piece partly made of nickel (see quot. 1858 above). Obs.

1857 N.Y. Herald 27 May (Bartlett), ‘Nary red’ will soon be an obsolete phrase among the boys, and ‘nary nickel’ will take its place. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. ix. (1891) 221 A picture as big as a copper, or a ‘nickel’, rather, at the bottom of his eye.

    b. A five-cent piece (containing one part of nickel to three of copper).

1883 Century Mag. Nov. 83/2 Even nickels cannot be had without labor. 1890 Gunter Miss Nobody i, I can't go through Yale on nothing but a fifty-dollar note and two nickels.

    c. Five dollars' worth of marijuana. U.S. slang.

1967 Boston Sunday Herald 26 Mar. 1/2 Nickel bags of marijuana (in hippie lingo a ‘nickel’ is $5 worth). 1968–70 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III–IV. 86 Nickel.., one-eighth to one-fourth of an ounce of marijuana costing about five dollars. Five dollars. (Drug users' jargon).

    3. attrib. and Comb. a. Simple attrib. in various senses, as nickel anode, nickel-candy, nickel-cigar, nickel electrotype, nickel metal, nickel mineral, nickel plate, nickel solution, etc.; objective, as nickel-bearing, nickel-worker; instrumental, as nickel-coated, nickel-faced (also nickel-face vb.), nickel-facing, nickel-plate vb., nickel-plated adj. (also fig.), nickel-plater, nickel-plating; nickel-and-dime, (a) rhyming slang for ‘time’; (b) adj., designating a store in which articles are cheaply priced; also transf. and fig.; nickel bag U.S. slang, a bag containing, or a measure of, five dollars' worth of a drug, esp. heroin or marijuana; nickel-in-the-slot a., of a machine, etc.: operated by the insertion of a nickel; nickel note U.S. slang (see quots.); nickel nurser U.S. slang, a miser.

1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 80/1 *Nickel and dime, time. 1960 J. Franklyn Dict. Rhyming Slang 100/2 Nickel and dime, time. 1970 New York 16 Nov. 42/2 Pinned to its banks are proud, homely nickel-and-dime towns..with sides made of asphalt shingles. 1972 Times 16 May 1/3 The first Mrs Wallace had worked in a nickel-and-dime store. 1974 ‘E. Lathen’ Sweet & Low viii. 84 You've got a lot of members who do nickel-and-dime business.

1875 Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 221 The *nickel anodes are connected to the..carbon plates of the battery.

1967 Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 672/1 The usual quantities or sizes of ‘bags’ are: ‘trey’ = $3 worth (esp. cocaine and heroin); ‘*nickel bag’ = $5 worth (esp. marijuana, cocaine, or heroin). 1971 Black World Apr. 38/2 Black men and women and their children exchange expensive gifts of death—in small nickel bags. 1973 Ibid. June 79/2 If..he gets high and blurts it out to a stranger in some bar that he got his nickel bag from Joe, the pusher, then Joe's livelihood is endangered.

1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 283 Good *nickel-bearing pyrites.

1972 Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 13/4 *Nickel candy is 12 cents.

1894 R. Kipling Let. 28 July in C. Carrington Rudyard Kipling (1955) ix. 217 There's a smell of horse-piss, Italian fruit-vendor, *nickel cigars.

1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 634/2 The articles to be *nickel-coated..are to be suspended in the solution.

1873 Spon Workshop Rec. Ser. i. 220/1 *Nickel electrotypes stand the wear and tear..better than the ordinary copper ones.

1894 Amer. Dict. Printing & Bookmaking 402/1 Electro-types are often *nickel-faced when they are to be used with colored inks, as copper injures the color. 1964 E. A. D. Hutchings Printing by Letterpress I. xii. 207 The usual copper shell can be nickel-faced after the plate has been finished. This type of plate is termed a nickel-faced electrotype.

1892 A. Powell Southward's Pract. Printing (ed. 4) lxxii. 696 (heading) Electrotyping..finishing the plate..*nickel facing. 1946 W. H. Church in H. Whetton Pract. Printing & Binding xiii. 169/1 No further finishing of the surface of the plate can be undertaken after the nickel facing is applied, without risk of the nickel peeling off when the plate is in use.

1889 Tacoma (Washington) News 13 Dec. 3/5 The latest *nickel-in-the-slot scheme is really a stroke of genius and is destined to revolutionize cheap literature in this country. 1893 Harper's Mag. Mar. 494 [In Jacksonville] there were the same..nickel-in-the-slot machines [as in Asbury Park]. 1901 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 20 Oct. 10/3 So long as..there is no means of obtaining..official reports,..so long will mining stock investment remain on the level of ‘nickel-in-the-slot’ gambling.

1851 Smee in Ure's Dict. Arts (1875) II. 220 The deposit..forms a great contrast to the common *nickel metal.

1874 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 309 This vein..contains in its ore an arsenical *nickel-mineral.

1926 Amer. Speech I. 652/1 *Nickel note, five dollar paper bill. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 85 Nickel note, five-dollar bill.

1926 Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Dict. 11/2 *Nickle nurser, one who has a passion for seeing that his nickles don't stray. 1945 L. Shelly Jive Talk Dict. 29 Nickel nurser, tightwad.

1875 Ure's Dict. Arts II. 223 A *nickel plate of the utmost purity.

1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 634/2 To *nickel-plate all pontys and molds for glass⁓making.

1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 488/2 The manufacture of cooking utensils and other useful articles out of..*nickel-plated iron. 1885 ‘Mark Twain’ in Century Mag. Dec. 194 He had some pathetic little nickel-plated aristocratic instincts. 1910 Daily Chron. 10 Dec. 9/5 This five-shilling watch..is made in cases of nickel or of gunmetal nickel-plated, with a crown bow. 1970 T. Hughes Crow 39 The tears are nickel-plated. 1974 R. C. Dennis Conversations with Corpse iii. 19 A revolver..or a pistol? Nickel-plated or blue steel? Regulation or snub-nosed?

1875 Ure's Dict. Arts II. 221 The veteran *nickel⁓plater of the states.

Ibid. 220 It is only within the last few years that *nickel-plating has been brought prominently into notice.

1858 Homans Cycl. Comm. 1443/2 Mineralogists, chemists, and *nickel-workers.

    b. Attrib. in names of natural or artificial compounds containing nickel, as nickel chloride, nickel nitrate, nickel ore, nickel pyrites, nickel regulus, nickel salt, nickel sulphate; nickel-antigorite [ad. G. nickel-antigorit (H. Strunz Mineral. Tabellen (ed. 3, 1957) 323)], a nickelian variety, (Mg,Ni)₃Si₂O₅(OH)₄, of antigorite; nickel-bloom = annabergite; nickel bronze (see quot.); nickel-chlorite [ad. G. nickelchlorit (H. Strunz Mineral. Tabellen (ed. 3, 1957) 317)], a basic silicate and aluminate of magnesium, iron, nickel, and aluminium, (Mg,Fe,Ni,Al)₆(Si,Al)₄O₁₀(OH)₈, which has been synthesized but whose natural occurrence is uncertain; nickel glance = gersdorffite; nickel green = annabergite; nickel gymnite, a gymnite in which part of the magnesium is replaced by nickel; nickel-iron, any alloy of nickel and iron; freq. attrib.; nickel ochre = annabergite; nickel silver, an alloy similar to German silver; nickel-skutterudite, an arsenide of nickel and cobalt, (Ni,Co)As₃, with nickel predominating, found as white or grey isometric crystals; also, the cobalt-free compound NiAs₃; nickel spinel [ad. G. nickelspinell (H. Strunz Mineral. Tabellen (ed. 3, 1957) 137): see spinel], an artificially produced oxide of nickel and aluminium, NiAl₂O₄; nickel steel, an alloy of iron with nickel.

1961 Mineral. Mag. XXXII. 972 *Nickel-antigorite... An unnecessary name for nickelian antigorite. 1968 Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. B. LXVII. 178 The ‘d’ spacings of this mineral can also stand a fair comparison with nickel-antigorite. Therefore, this sample could be either nepouite or nickel antigorite.

1861 Bristow Gloss. Min. 258 *Nickel-bloom.

1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 634/1 The pure metal is mixed with various proportions of copper, zinc, and tin, forming *nickel bronze.

1868 Fownes' Chem. (ed. 10) 464 *Nickel Chloride..is easily prepared by dissolving oxide or carbonate of nickel in hydrochloric acid.

1961 Mineral. Mag. XXXII. 972 *Nickelchlorite... Some of the natural nickel silicates may be members of the chlorite group. 1969 Clays & Clay Minerals XVII. 233 Nickel-chlorite has been obtained by the co-precipitation of nickelous hydrous oxide and montmorillonite at an OH/Ni ratio of 2·0.

1836 T. Thomson Min., Geol., etc. I. 529 Sulpho-Arsenide of Nickel. *Nickel glance.

1837 Dana Syst. Min. 245 *Nickel Green. Niccolus prasinus. Color a fine apple-green.

1853 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. Ser. ii. XVI. 170, I described the mineral in 1851, under the name *Nickelgymnite.

1875 Geol. Mag. Decade II. II. 21 *Nickel-iron, containing 15·3 per cent. of nickel, constitutes 3·5 per cent. of the stone a less quantity than is found in the Pultusk meteorites. 1946 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) VII. 458/1 Silicon-irons and nickel-irons with alloy additions are noteworthy. Ibid., The nickel-iron alloys (‘Permalloys’) are used in compressed powder form at telephonic and radio frequencies. 1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth viii. 116/1 Nickel-iron is practically absent from terrestrial rocks. 1971 Gloss. Electrotechnical, Power Terms (B.S.I.) i. iii. 14 Nickel-iron sleeve, longitudinally split sleeve of nickel-iron alloy, the use of which enables a winding to have a higher impedance at speech frequencies.

1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 283 *Nickel Ochre and Vitriol of Nickel. 1861 Bristow Gloss. Min. 258 Nickel Ochre..occurs massive, earthy and friable.

1836 T. Thomson Min., Geol., etc., I. 523 The species of *nickel ores hitherto observed, amount only to eight.

1837 Dana Syst. Min. 399 Copper nickel. Prismatic *Nickel Pyrites. 1855 Orr's Circ. Sci., Geol., etc. 497 Millerite. Sulphuret of Nickel. Nickel Pyrites.

1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 133/1 There is no copper, but a *nickel regulus is produced.

1852 Fownes Chem. (ed. 4) 342 The artificial..product, called speiss,..may be employed as a source of the *nickel salts.

1860 Knight's Eng. Cycl., Arts & Sci. V. s.v., Nickel..is extensively used in the manufacture of the so-called *nickel-silver. 1862 Chambers's Encycl. IV. 713/2 Britannia metal and nickel silver, which are used as substitutes for the true German silver.

1892 Waller & Moses in School of Mines Q. XIV. 51 This would be a mineral of the type of skutterudite CoAs3... If further analysis confirms these results, the name *Nickel-Skutterudite is suggested. 1935 Amer. Mineralogist XX. 723 Microscopic study of material from the Bullard's Peak district, New Mexico, shows native silver associated with nickel-skutterudite. 1968 I. Kostov Mineralogy ii. 134 The analogous NiAs3 (nickel-skutterudite) contains Ni 20·71%, As 79·29%.

1961 Mineral. Mag. XXXIII. 973 *Nickelspinel. 1963 Jrnl. Amer. Ceramic Soc. XLVI. 581/2 The other ternary phase assemblage, liquid, NiO, and nickel spinel, exists over wide ranges of temperature (1450° to ∼1775° C) and composition (∼20 to 100 mole %NiAl2O4).

1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 634/2 *Nickel Steel. 1895 Daily News 14 Nov. 6/5 The nickel-steel gun forgings made..in Pennsylvania.

1868 Fownes' Chem. (ed. 10) 465 *Nickel Sulphate..is the most important of the nickel salts.

    Hence ˈnickelic a., pertaining to, or containing, nickel. ˌnickeˈliferous a., containing or yielding nickel. ˈnickeline n. = niccolite; (see quot. 1971); a., consisting of nickel. ˈnickelite = niccolite. ˌnickeliˈzation, the process of nickelizing. ˈnickelize v. trans., to coat with nickel. ˈnickelous a., containing nickel.

1828–32 Webster s.v., The *nickelic acid is a saturated combination of nickel and oxygen.

1821 R. Jameson Man. Min. 327 *Nickeliferous Grey Antimony. 1851 Ashburner tr. Reichenbach's Dynamics 594 Containing a great intermixture of this metallic nickeliferous iron.

1786 Aikin tr. Beaumé's Man. Chem. 122 note, The ingredients which are usually separated from the *nickelline ores. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 444 A solution of Sal Ammoniac would take up the nickeline part and leave the Cobaltic. 1835 Shepard Min. II. 83 Nickeline (Copper-Nickel). 1888 Min. Mag. VIII. 200 A few pieces of copper-nickel (nickeline) were obtained. 1971 Mineral. Mag. XXXVIII. 104 Recommendations of the Commission [on New Minerals and Mineral Names, of the International Mineralogical Association] on minerals for which more than one name is in common use:..Nickeline, not niccolite or nickelite.

1883 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 9) XVI. 392 *Nickelite (Copper Nickel).

1857 Chamb. Jrnl. VIII. 224 We have recently experimented upon the subject of *nickelisation.

1872 T. G. Thomas Dis. Women (ed. 3) 349 The clamp..may be made..of *nickelized steel.

1880 Libr. Univ. Knowl. VI. 511 Using a solution of *nickelous sulphate. 1899 Nature 20 Apr. 595/1 Complete analyses of nickelous bromide and cobaltous bromide were undertaken.

▪ II. nickel, v.
    [f. the n.]
    a. To coat with nickel.

a 1875 in Knight Dict. Mech. 1526/1 It being far easier to gild, plate, or copper an article than to nickel it.

    b. To foul (the bore of a gun) with nickel off the bullet-casing; intr., to become fouled.

1918, etc. [implied in nickeling vbl. n. below]. 1920 G. Burrard Notes on Sporting Rifles 31 When a barrel has once been nickelled it is always liable to nickel again very quickly.

    Hence ˈnickeling vbl. n., (a) the process of coating with nickel; (b) the fouling of the bore of a gun with nickel; metallic fouling; ˈnickelled ppl. a., coated with nickel.

1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1526/1 Nickeling. 1884 Higgs Magn. & Dyn. Electr. Machines 203 Gilding, silvering, nickeling and tinning have become so universal. 1885 Bazaar 30 Mar. 1272/2, 52 in. [bicycle],..nickelled, ball pedals. 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 132/2 Two of the nickeled hinges on my valise had been twisted off. 1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 407 Nickeling, in gunnery, metallic fouling caused by a portion of the cupro-nickel of the envelope of the bullet being left on the surface of the bore. 1920 G. Burrard Notes on Sporting Rifles 30 Nickelling at first is impossible to detect with the eye. 1958 J. A. Barlow Elements of Rifle Shooting (ed. 5) i. 6 It may be as well here to touch on the problem presented by metallic fouling, generally known as nickelling... Nickelling is mainly due to small particles of the bullet envelope being cut off by roughness or excrescence in the bore.

Oxford English Dictionary