hickey
or hick·ie
[hik-ee]
- 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.
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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
Kekewich and Hickie had combined their forces at the beginning of February.
The Great Boer WarArthur Conan Doyle
In fact, but for the interest taken by General Hickie it would have been impossible.
The Irish on the SommeMichael MacDonagh
Cuthbert, seedy, was relieved by Hickie in command of the 13th Brigade to-day.
The Doings of the Fifteenth Infantry BrigadeEdward Lord Gleichen
hickey
- 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
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Word Origin
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