  The normal ordering of an integral power of the number operator in terms of
boson operators is expressed with the help of the Stirling numbers of the
second kind. As a `degenerate version' of this, we consider the normal ordering
of a degenerate integral power of the number operator in terms of boson
operators, which is represented by means of the degenerate Stirling numbers of
the second kind. As an application of this normal ordering, we derive two
equations defining the degenerate Stirling numbers of the second kind and a
Dobinski-like formula for the degenerate Bell polynomials.
