"plug nickel" meaning in English

See plug nickel in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: plug nickels [plural]
Etymology: Some early United States coins (minted in the 18th and 19th centuries) were made with a small silver disc added to the center of the coin in the planchet (blank metal) before striking. This was done to increase the value of the metal in the coin up to the coin's face value. A plug nickel or plugged nickel is a nickel (now a five-cent coin, but originally a one-cent coin and later a three-cent coin) where the "plug" (center disc) has been removed, thus decreasing the metal value of the coin. People would often examine their change after a cash transaction to ensure they did not receive such a coin. Head templates: {{en-noun}} plug nickel (plural plug nickels)
  1. (chiefly US, colloquial) A nearly worthless amount. Tags: US, colloquial Synonyms: farthing, brass farthing, red cent, two cents, plugged nickel Derived forms: not worth a plug nickel Related terms: don't take any wooden nickels Translations (nearly worthless amount): puupenni (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-plug_nickel-en-noun-33yA5Z82 Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for plug nickel meaning in English (2.6kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "Some early United States coins (minted in the 18th and 19th centuries) were made with a small silver disc added to the center of the coin in the planchet (blank metal) before striking. This was done to increase the value of the metal in the coin up to the coin's face value. A plug nickel or plugged nickel is a nickel (now a five-cent coin, but originally a one-cent coin and later a three-cent coin) where the \"plug\" (center disc) has been removed, thus decreasing the metal value of the coin. People would often examine their change after a cash transaction to ensure they did not receive such a coin.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "plug nickels",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "plug nickel (plural plug nickels)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "not worth a plug nickel"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1997 March 6, Neil Munro, “Putting a Price Tag on Privacy”, in washingtontechnology.com, retrieved 2008-09-28",
          "text": "Others estimate that each consumer's data is virtually worthless to the consumer; \"Most of [consumers'] information, on an open market, is not worth a plug nickel,\" said Bruce Belair, a Washington-based lawyer.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 February 19, “Opinion: State Must Fast-track MTA $ Plan”, in New York Daily News, retrieved 2008-09-28",
          "text": "The Senate can easily release these MTA bonds to the financial markets to stop subway fare hikes—and it won't cost the state a plug nickel.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 April 24, Steve Schultze, “Dolphins in mural could be rescued”, in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, retrieved 2008-09-28",
          "text": "There's no additional money for saving the mural, he said. \"I have no intention of spending another plug nickel on it.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A nearly worthless amount."
      ],
      "id": "en-plug_nickel-en-noun-33yA5Z82",
      "links": [
        [
          "worthless",
          "worthless"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US, colloquial) A nearly worthless amount."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "don't take any wooden nickels"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "farthing"
        },
        {
          "word": "brass farthing"
        },
        {
          "word": "red cent"
        },
        {
          "word": "two cents"
        },
        {
          "word": "plugged nickel"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "nearly worthless amount",
          "word": "puupenni"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "plug nickel"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "not worth a plug nickel"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Some early United States coins (minted in the 18th and 19th centuries) were made with a small silver disc added to the center of the coin in the planchet (blank metal) before striking. This was done to increase the value of the metal in the coin up to the coin's face value. A plug nickel or plugged nickel is a nickel (now a five-cent coin, but originally a one-cent coin and later a three-cent coin) where the \"plug\" (center disc) has been removed, thus decreasing the metal value of the coin. People would often examine their change after a cash transaction to ensure they did not receive such a coin.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "plug nickels",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "plug nickel (plural plug nickels)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "don't take any wooden nickels"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1997 March 6, Neil Munro, “Putting a Price Tag on Privacy”, in washingtontechnology.com, retrieved 2008-09-28",
          "text": "Others estimate that each consumer's data is virtually worthless to the consumer; \"Most of [consumers'] information, on an open market, is not worth a plug nickel,\" said Bruce Belair, a Washington-based lawyer.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 February 19, “Opinion: State Must Fast-track MTA $ Plan”, in New York Daily News, retrieved 2008-09-28",
          "text": "The Senate can easily release these MTA bonds to the financial markets to stop subway fare hikes—and it won't cost the state a plug nickel.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 April 24, Steve Schultze, “Dolphins in mural could be rescued”, in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, retrieved 2008-09-28",
          "text": "There's no additional money for saving the mural, he said. \"I have no intention of spending another plug nickel on it.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A nearly worthless amount."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "worthless",
          "worthless"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US, colloquial) A nearly worthless amount."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "colloquial"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "farthing"
    },
    {
      "word": "brass farthing"
    },
    {
      "word": "red cent"
    },
    {
      "word": "two cents"
    },
    {
      "word": "plugged nickel"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "nearly worthless amount",
      "word": "puupenni"
    }
  ],
  "word": "plug nickel"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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