dicky en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
- /ˈdɪki/
Etymology
From Dicky, pet form of Richard. * In cover/apron senses: perhaps from English dialect dick (“leather apron”) + -y; perhaps from Dutch dek (“a cover”).
Meanings
- (colloquial) A louse.
- (Cockney, slang) Dicky dirt = a shirt, meaning a shirt with a collar.
- (slang) A detachable shirt front, collar or bib.
- (dated, slang) A hat, especially (in the US) a stiff hat or derby, and (in the UK) a straw hat.
-
(dated) A seat behind a carriage or early motor car, for a servant.
...and she was just in time to see Mr. Boyne Sillery hand her aunt into a carriage, jump in himself, when it drove off with a rapidity which scarcely allowed her to observe that a large imperial was on the top, and her aunt's servant, with a huge bandbox, on the dickey.
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, pages 134–135:
- (dated) A seat in a carriage, for the driver.
-
(South-Asia) The luggage storage compartment of a sedan/saloon style car.
Can you open the dicky for me?
Back and forth, back and forth, go our mothers on their secret missions, carrying their sinister freight in the dicky of our Morris Minor.
1988, Bapsi Sidhwa, Ice-Candy Man, Daunt Books (2016), page 184:
- (India, colloquial) the buttocks.
- (historical) A leather apron for a gig, etc.
- A small bird; a dicky-bird.
-
(UK, idiomatic, in negative constructions) An insignificant sound or thing; dicky-bird.
Oh, she landed at Heathrow all right, like you said, but since then your Miss Ranelagh seems to have vanished as effectively as my overdue promotion. Not used her credit card, her Internet account, her mobile phone. Nothing. Not a dicky.
2013, Michael Dobbs, A Ghost at the Door:
- (UK, slang) A pilot.
- (UK, dialectal) A hedge sparrow.
-
(UK, dialectal) A donkey.
I've heard grandfather say that when Mr. Priest was at his best there was scores o' young gents as used to come to school as day-boys, 'cause there was no room for 'em to board; and they used to come on dickies […]
1896, Augustus Jessopp, Random Roaming, and Other Papers, page 181:
- A haddock.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| dickies | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| dickie | alternative | lexicographic | |
| dickey | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Descendants
Synonyms
keister · blessed assurance · derriere · glutes · fourth point of contact · peach · keester · tommy · buns · gooseberry-grinder · bottom · arse · seat · caboose · moneymaker · bum · behind · nether cheeks · nates · arse cheeks · tail · boot · hinderlin · butt cheeks · sit upon · jacksie · moon · trunk · posterior · postern · butt · hurdies · fanny · backside · cheeks · gyatt · dicky · batty · tushie · patootie · back · booty · gluteus maximus · buttocks · botty · ass · rear · rump · toches · 'tocks · heinie · hiney · bum cheeks · ass cheeks · tush · rear end
Translations (1)
ga cúlóg (seat behind a carriage or early motor car, for a servant)