nickel
• noun 1 a silvery-white metallic chemical element resembling iron, used in alloys. 2 N. Amer. informal a five-cent coin. • verb (nickelled, nickelling; US nickeled, nickeling) coat with nickel. — ORIGIN from German Kupfernickel, the copper-coloured ore from which nickel was first obtained, from Kupfer ‘copper’ + Nickel ‘demon’ (with reference to the ore’s failure to yield copper).
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