an article of clothing made to look like the front or collar of a shirt, blouse, vest, etc., worn as a separate piece under another garment, as a jacket or dress.
a detachable linen shirt collar.
a bib or pinafore worn by a child.
a small bird.
a donkey, especially a male.
an outside seat on a carriage.
British. rumble seat.
James, 1923–97, U.S. poet and novelist.
William Bill, 1907–93, U.S. baseball player.
First recorded in 1745–55; generic use of Dicky, diminutive of Dick, proper name
First recorded in 1805–15; origin uncertain
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ms. Swanson Beard and her business partner, sister-in-law Veronica Miele Beard, knew when they started their company that they had an uphill climb to bring the dickey to an upscale audience.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 16, 2015
She has used a dickey countless times on photo shoots, she says, because it “ties together things quite nicely but doesn’t bulk up or change the silhouette.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 16, 2015
She had a short tawny coat, a dickey of shaggy hair and horns roughly the size and shape of large plantains.
From New York Times • Jul. 3, 2014
His idea was of an undone dandy; hence, the flapping shirt collar and cuffs and the nice extra detail of a cotton dickey.
From New York Times • Jan. 23, 2013
Jane, after some hesitation, eventually decided that a white dickey would be just the thing for Mr. Banks, and she bought Robinson Crusoe for the Twins to read when they grew up.
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
