hickey
See also: Hickey
English
![](Images/wiktionary/Hickey.jpg.webp)
A hickey (sense 1) on the neck.
![](Images/wiktionary/Hand_Bender_for_EMT_J._Morris_CC_BY-SA-3.0.jpg.webp)
sense 6
Etymology
Unknown.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈhɪk.i/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪki
Noun
hickey (plural hickeys)
- (originally US, slang) A bruise-like mark made during petting by pressing the mouth to the skin on one’s partner’s body and sucking. [from 1934]
- Synonyms: love bite, knot
- 2003, “Stand Up”, in Chicken-n-Beer, performed by Ludacris ft. Shawnna:
- But Louis Vuitton bras all over your breasts / Got me wanting to put hickeys all over your chest
- 2005, William Cane, The Art of Kissing, 2nd edition, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 128:
- When it comes to hickeys, the best I can tell you is that a lot of girls cover them with makeup or a turtleneck shirt. But let me close with a final thought. Never be ashamed of your hickeys. Show them off proudly as badges of love.
- (informal, slang) An object whose name is unknown or cannot be recalled. [from 1909]
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:thingy
- (printing) A printing defect caused by foreign matter on the printing surface resulting in a ring where the ink is missing, appearing as a spot of ink surrounded by a halo, or as an unprinted spot within a solid printed area.
- (printing, informal) A serif or other ornamentation on type.
- 2008, American Printer (volume 125, page 63)
- Years ago, there were internal company standards for dark center (ink color) hickeys and for white voids in solids/type.
- 2018, Paul W. Ross, Revival: The Handbook of Software for Engineers and Scientists
- It is generally believed, by those who study such things, that serif typefaces are easier to read when reading a lot of words. The hickeys (serifs) on each letter tend to push our eye toward the next letter.
- 2008, American Printer (volume 125, page 63)
- Local swelling in a tissue area, especially skin, often due to injury. [from 1915]
- A tool for making smooth, semicircular bends in conduit and pipe.
- Synonym: conduit bender
- (US, slang, business, finance) An unintended negative outcome or loss in regards to a deal or action.
- take a hickey
- Farmer Jones took a hickey on his soybean crop when the flood washed the seeds away.
Derived terms
- doohickey, dohickey
Translations
bruise-like mark — See also translations at love bite
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referring to an object whose name is unknown or cannot be recalled
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printing defect caused by foreign matter on the printing surface
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swelling in a tissue area
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tool for making smooth, semicircular bends in conduit and pipe
Further reading
hickey on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Jonathon Green (2023), “hickey n.1”, in Green's Dictionary of Slang
- Jonathon Green (2023), “hickey n.2”, in Green's Dictionary of Slang