doohickey

[ doo-hik-ee ]

noun

, Informal.

, plural doo·hick·eys.

1. a gadget; dingus; thingamajig.

doohickey

/ ˈduːˌhɪkɪ /

noun

1. informal.
   another name for doodah

Word History and Origins

Origin of doohickey¹

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; doo(dad) + hickey

Example Sentences

For the hard-to-reach places — the flower beds and under the azaleas — he has a little handheld doohickey, like a garden center jack-in-box.

From Washington Post

And that name, in turn, inspired the name of the spinoff doohickey that engineers loved to ride down the halls of DEKA.

From Slate

What was the TVA doohickey that the murderer stole in 19th-century Nebraska?

From Slate

Even if it’s a doohickey without any particular monetary value.

From New York Times

In the downtown into which he and others pumped so much energy, there was no energy, unless you count that man back over there at Washington and Pennsylvania, operating some sort of laser doohickey on an easel.

From Washington Post