hickey

or hick·ie

[hik-ee]

noun, plural hick·eys.

Slang.

a pimple.
a reddish mark left on the skin by a passionate kiss.

any device or gadget whose name is not known or is momentarily forgotten.

Electricity. a fitting used to mount a lighting fixture in an outlet box or on a pipe or stud.

a tool used to bend tubes and pipes.

Nearby words

Origin of hickey

1905–10; Americanism; of obscure origin; senses under def. 1 perhaps a separate word, though the development “device > defective device > defect, blemish, mark” is also possible; cf. doohickey

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hickie

Kekewich and Hickie had combined their forces at the beginning of February.
The Great Boer War|Arthur Conan Doyle
In fact, but for the interest taken by General Hickie it would have been impossible.
The Irish on the Somme|Michael MacDonagh
Cuthbert, seedy, was relieved by Hickie in command of the 13th Brigade to-day.
The Doings of the Fifteenth Infantry Brigade|Edward Lord Gleichen

British Dictionary definitions for hickie

hickey

noun

US and Canadian informal an object or gadget: used as a name when the correct name is forgotten, etc; doodah

US and Canadian informal a mark on the skin, esp a lovebite

printing a spot on a printed sheet caused by an imperfection or a speck on the printing plate

Word Origin for hickey

C20: of unknown origin

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 hickie

hickie

"love bite; mark on skin made by biting or sucking during foreplay or sex," 1934; earlier "pimple, skin lesion" (c.1915); perhaps a sense extension and spelling variation from earlier word meaning "small gadget, device; any unspecified object" (1909, cf. doohickey, still used in this sense).

hickey

see hickie.