dickey

¹

or dick·y, dick·ie

[ dik-ee ]

noun

, plural dick·eys.

1. 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. Compare vest ( def 2 ), vestee.
2. a detachable linen shirt collar.
3. a bib or pinafore worn by a child.
4. a small bird.
5. a donkey, especially a male.
6. an outside seat on a carriage.
7. British. rumble seat ( def 1 ).

dickey

²

[ dik-ee ]

adjective

, Chiefly British Slang.

1. not working properly; faulty:

   I'm fed up with this dickey air conditioner.

Dickey

³

[ dik-ee ]

noun

1. James, 1923–97, U.S. poet and novelist.
2. William Bill, 1907–93, U.S. baseball player.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dickey¹

First recorded in 1745–55; generic use of Dicky, diminutive of Dick, proper name

Origin of dickey²

First recorded in 1805–15; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

King and Duane Allman and Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers, to name a few, are long gone.

From Los Angeles Times

Times ran an article on Orange County’s high school football officials in 1971 and listed a name to contact for more information: John Dickey, secretary of the Orange County Football Officials Assn.

From Los Angeles Times

The article included Dickey’s home address — a house on Brenan Way.

From Los Angeles Times

The 21-year-old Cal State Fullerton graduate knocked on Dickey’s door and introduced himself.

From Los Angeles Times

"We've created a class of materials that we've termed glassy gels, which are as hard as glassy polymers, but -- if you apply enough force -- can stretch up to five times their original length, rather than breaking," says Michael Dickey, corresponding author of a paper on the work and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University.

From Science Daily