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dickens

1 American  
[dik-inz] / ˈdɪk ɪnz /

noun

  1. Usually the dickens devil; deuce (often used in exclamations and as a mild oath).

    The dickens you say! What the dickens does he want?
Dickens 2 American  
[dik-inz] / ˈdɪk ɪnz /

noun

  1. Charles John Huffam, Boz, 1812–70, English novelist.

Dickens 1 British  
/ ˈdɪkɪnz /

noun

  1. Charles ( John Huffam ), pen name Boz. 1812–70, English novelist, famous for the humour and sympathy of his characterization and his criticism of social injustice. His major works include The Pickwick Papers (1837), Oliver Twist (1839), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), Old Curiosity Shop (1840–41), Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), David Copperfield (1850), Bleak House (1853), Little Dorrit (1857), and Great Expectations (1861)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
dickens 2 British  
/ ˈdɪkɪnz /

noun

  1. informal a euphemistic word for devil

    what the dickens?
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • Dickensian adjective

Etymology

Origin of dickens

First recorded in 1590–1600; apparently a fanciful use of Dicken, form of Dick, a proper name

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.