dicky
[dik-ee]
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dickey1
or dick·y, dick·ie
[dik-ee]
- 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.Compare vest(def 2), vestee.
- 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(def 1).
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Origin of dickey1
1745–55; generic use of Dicky, diminutive of Dick, proper name
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for dicky
Contemporary Examples
Duane and Dicky lope backstage afterwards to “do some sniff,” as Dicky terms it.
Dicky catches sight of Duane and guffaws: “Hey, brother, you got coke all over in your muss-tache.”
Duane grabs a towel and mops his streaming face while Dicky spoons out the coke.
Dicky Betts, alternate lead guitar to Duane, whiles away the flight swapping comic books with the bassist, Berry Oakley.
By the time Dicky Betts thunderballs into his solo jam on “Elizabeth Reed,” people are standing on their chairs, yodeling cheers.
Historical Examples
He next whispered to him, and (as Dicky says) invited him to join them.
It was Dicky, the lad of the sanguine countenance that spoke.
Peak and PrairieAnna Fuller
Then he held up his head, and I knew dear old Dicky was as sound as a bell.
Tom, Dick and HarryTalbot Baines Reed
“If Tempest says so, he probably is,” remarked the unemotional Dicky.
Tom, Dick and HarryTalbot Baines Reed
In vain the faithful Dicky prompted me from behind and Graham minor from the side.
Tom, Dick and HarryTalbot Baines Reed
dicky1
dickey
- a woman's false blouse front, worn to fill in the neck of a jacket or low-cut dress
- a man's false shirt front, esp one worn with full evening dress
- Also called: dicky bow British a bow tie
- mainly British an informal name for a donkey, esp a male one
- Also called: dickybird, dickeybird a child's word for a bird, esp a small one
- a folding outside seat at the rear of some early carsUS and Canadian name: rumble seat
- Also called: boot Indian an enclosed compartment of a car for holding luggage, etc, usually at the rear
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Word Origin
C18 (in the senses: donkey, shirt front): from Dickey, diminutive of Dick (name); the relationship of the various senses is obscure
dicky2
dickey
- British informal in bad condition; shaky, unsteady, or unreliableI feel a bit dicky today
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Word Origin
C18: perhaps from the name Dick in the phrase as queer as Dick's hatband feeling ill
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for dicky
n.
"detached shirt front," 1811; "a small bird," 1851; diminutive of dick, but the applications are obscure in both cases.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper