hokey-pokey

[ hoh-kee-poh-kee ]

noun

1. hocus-pocus; trickery.
2. Often Hokey-Pokey. a dance performed in a circle, or a song describing the simple movements of the dance.
3. ice cream as formerly sold by street vendors.
4. New Zealand. a toffee-flavored candy or ice cream popular in New Zealand.

Trademark.

1. Hokey-Pokey. a brand of white chocolate ice cream with honeycomb and caramel.

hokey-pokey

/ ˌhəʊkɪˈpəʊkɪ /

noun

1. another word for hocus-pocus hocus-pocus
2. a brittle toffee sold in lumps

Word History and Origins

Origin of hokey-pokey¹

First recorded in 1840–50; variant of hocus-pocus

Example Sentences

By now, everyone knows how to do the Republican presidential hokey pokey: You put your right foot in.

From The Daily Beast

She jumped up and down and did the hokey pokey and shouted to the rooftops from it.

From The Daily Beast

Here is the poorer Italian colony; organ-grinders, ice-cream-barrow-men, "hokey-pokey" sellers, and their like.

From Project Gutenberg

They both laughed, feeling like mischievous children who had played a successful trick on the hokey-pokey man.

From Project Gutenberg

Hokey Pokey stepped lightly forward, and dropped the round loaf down the great red throat.

From Project Gutenberg

I didn't notice anything except a hokey-pokey seller, adding his mite to the infant mortality of the district.

From Project Gutenberg

Hot gauffrette and hokey-pokey venders are always near at hand.

From Project Gutenberg