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.
At the presentation of the Veronica Beard Spring 2016 collection in New York Tuesday, a model with her brunette hair slicked back posed in a chambray stretch-linen jacket and a satin straight-collared dickey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2015
Now, in time for fall layering, the dickey comes in luxury fabrics and stylish prints.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2015
Online clothing retailer Shopbop gives examples of how a dickey can be worn so customers understand it.
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
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
Dickey died after collapsing during the first day of Bucknell University football training camp in July 2024.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
“The victim’s decision to give us a call and work with our detectives was critical in helping us stop this scam before additional money was lost,” Ventura Police Chief David Dickey said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Blink customer William Dickey decided to test the system’s AI prowess at his home in Cushing, Maine, by donning horror-movie masks from his collection, said his wife, April Dickey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Just raising the possibility of such a withdrawal carries a stigma, Dickey adds.
From MarketWatch ● May 1, 2026
Early in the book Dickey has his characters stop for directions in some “sleepy and hookwormy and ugly” town, which for all I know could have been Hiawassee.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
The dickey’s latest proponent is designer Michael Kors, who earlier this year presented various cool-weather, Art Deco-inspired options, such as long, pointed collars under fitted black sweaters and turtleneck dickeys under sleeveless dresses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2015
This year, she designed dickeys that should be in full view, like over a long-sleeve T-shirt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2015
The rooms were dense with industry insiders jostling for a closer look at the Beards’ shearling coats, prairie skirts, chunky raccoon furs and, of course, their signature blazer, offered, as always, with interchangeable dickeys.
From New York Times ● Aug. 7, 2013
Fur and novelty things with fur, such as the fur dickeys we saw at Celine.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 16, 2011
The experiment of training a race of attenuated cherubs in the shade, and making them martyrs to clean aprons and clean dickeys, is a failure.
From A Breeze from the Woods, 2nd Ed. by Bartlett, William Chauncey
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.
