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• dickens
  dickens

  noun

  Usually the dickens devil; deuce (often used in exclamations and as a mild oath).
• Dickens
  Dickens

  noun

  Charles John Huffam, Boz, 1812–70, English novelist.

dickens

¹ American  

[dik-inz] / ˈdɪk ɪnz /

noun

1. Usually the dickens devil; deuce (often used in exclamations and as a mild oath).

   The dickens you say! What the dickens does he want?

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Dickens ² American  

[dik-inz] / ˈdɪk ɪnz /

noun

1. Charles John Huffam, Boz, 1812–70, English novelist.

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Dickens ¹ British  

/ ˈdɪkɪnz /

noun

1. Charles ( John Huffam ), pen name Boz. 1812–70, English novelist, famous for the humour and sympathy of his characterization and his criticism of social injustice. His major works include The Pickwick Papers (1837), Oliver Twist (1839), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), Old Curiosity Shop (1840–41), Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), David Copperfield (1850), Bleak House (1853), Little Dorrit (1857), and Great Expectations (1861)

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dickens ² British  

/ ˈdɪkɪnz /

noun

1. informal a euphemistic word for devil

   what the dickens?

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Dickensian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of dickens

First recorded in 1590–1600; apparently a fanciful use of Dicken, form of Dick, a proper name

Explanation

Use the noun dickens for emphasis, or to express surprise — for example, you might ask, "What the dickens is this goat doing in the kitchen?" The old-fashioned dickens is a gentle and inoffensive replacement for a profanity. Instead of shocking your grandmother by cursing, you can instead say, "After shoveling all that snow, my back hurts like the dickens." This exclamation has been around since the late 1500s, when it became a substitute for devil, but no one's sure exactly why dickens was used. It may be from the last name Dickens, though it definitely pre-dates the writer Charles Dickens.

Example Sentences

Boras and Belly became Boris and Natasha, a joke that hurt the Boys In Blue like the dickens.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 2, 2023

And how the dickens did he get on the debate stage?

From Slate • Aug. 23, 2023

Her best bet, she decided, was to listen for the telltale squeak of her mailbox lid when the letter carrier stopped by in the afternoon and scream like the dickens.

From Washington Post • Nov. 17, 2021

Partch and others have been trying like the dickens to save it.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 21, 2020

It hurt like the dickens but I gritted my teeth and walked on.

From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls