Real Dictionary

nickel
countable noun: In the United States and Canada, a nickel is a coin worth five cents.
uncountable noun: Nickel is a silver-coloured metal that is used in making steel.

nickel in American English
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
to plate with nickel
adjective: costing or worth five dollars
noun: a hard, silvery-white, ductile and malleable metallic element, allied to iron and cobalt, not readily oxidized: used chiefly in alloys, in electroplating, and as a catalyst in organic synthesis; at. wt.: 58.71; at. no.: 28; sp. gr.: 8.9 at 20°C
transitive verb: to cover or coat with nickel; nickel-plate

nickel in Automotive Engineering
noun: Nickel is a silver-colored metal that is used in making steel.

nickel in British English
noun: 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;
verb: to plate with nickel