dickens
See also: Dickens
English
Etymology
Origin: 1590–1600; apparently a fanciful use of the proper name Dicken, diminutive form of Dick.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdɪkɪnz/, /ˈdɪkənz/
Audio (UK) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɪkənz
Noun
dickens
- (euphemistic) The devil.
- She can go to the dickens for what she said.
- You scared the dickens out of me.
- In the phrase the dickens (Used as an intensifier).
- Why the dickens did he do that?
- We had the dickens of a row.
- 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 123:
- "What the dickens does it all mean? The Martians can't get out of their pit, can they?"
- A disturbance or row.
- 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:
- Hugh considered saying, Then I guess I'll just have to kick you a few times instead, you frog son of a bitch. Then he thought of that fat bastard Keeton, handing him a pink slip for kicking up dickens in the local tavern.
-
Synonyms
- (intensifier): on earth, the hell, the devil, the heck, the fuck
Derived terms
- play the dickens with
- the dickens you say
See also
- Dickensian
References
- Random House Dictionary
Anagrams
- snicked