1. a water sprite or nymph in Germanic folklore
Usage: mythology
2. a piece of mail that cannot be delivered due to an incorrect or illegible address
Usage: postal service

Examples

• The old German tale told of a nixie who lived beneath the village pond.
• According to folklore, nixies would lure travelers into the water.
• The post office sorted through hundreds of nixies each day.
• Her letter became a nixie because she forgot to include the zip code.
• The postal worker placed the nixie in the dead letter pile.