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double-nickel

noun

Etymology

From trucker slang in the 1970s referring to the national 55 mph speed limit, based on nickel (“five-cent coin”).

Definitions

  1. The national speed limit of 55 miles per hour introduced in the USA in 1974.

    • But in 1982 they found a loophole: Keep the double-nickel speed limit, but effectively allow motorists to drive up to 65 by designating that speed a “waste of a finite resource” and setting the fine at $15.

  2. The number 55 (by extension).

    • This night was insane. Knicks win, Sixers win, Wolves win. Kyrie drops a double-nickel.

  3. To travel at 55 miles per hour.

    • Rose’s EarthCruiser – seven hundred thousand dollars’ worth of imported rolling steel, the best RV money could buy – led the parade. But slowly, just double-nickeling it.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for double-nickel. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA