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hickey

or hick·ie

[hik-ee]
noun, plural hick·eys.
  1. Slang.
    1. a pimple.
    2. a reddish mark left on the skin by a passionate kiss.
  2. any device or gadget whose name is not known or is momentarily forgotten.
  3. Electricity. a fitting used to mount a lighting fixture in an outlet box or on a pipe or stud.
  4. a tool used to bend tubes and pipes.
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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. 2018

Examples from the Web for hickie

Historical Examples of 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.

British Dictionary definitions for hickie

hickey

noun
  1. US and Canadian informal an object or gadget: used as a name when the correct name is forgotten, etc; doodah
  2. US and Canadian informal a mark on the skin, esp a lovebite
  3. printing a spot on a printed sheet caused by an imperfection or a speck on the printing plate
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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

n.

"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).

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hickey

n.

see hickie.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper