dickey


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Related to dickey: dickie

dickey

obsolete An undergarment worn beneath a petticoat. A respectable lady never goes out without a dickey! Between the dickey, the petticoat, and the gown itself, I feel like I can barely move! I'm glad I don't have to worry about things like petticoats, dickeys, and corsets in today's world!

dicky

1. adjective, slang In poor condition; unwell. Primarily heard in UK. Tom said he was feeling a little dicky today, so he might be a bit late getting into work. A: "Would you like some eggs and sausages for breakfast?" B: "No thanks, I've got a bit of a dicky tummy this morning." I don't care if you're feeling dicky—you're not missing your exams!
2. adjective, slang Functioning poorly or improperly. Primarily heard in UK. It looks like a dicky carburettor is to blame for your engine troubles. Hmm, if it works some of the time, your machine might just have a dicky connector. I think my phone has a dicky keyboard. Look, I just tried typing my name, and this is the nonsense I ended up with!
3. noun, slang A shirt. The term comes from rhyming slang in which "dicky" is short for "dicky dirt," which rhymes with "shirt." Primarily heard in UK. You don't even have your dicky on yet? Come on, man, it's almost time to leave! Can you answer the door? Someone's knocking and I haven't got a dicky on—or pants, for that matter! A: "So that's the dicky you plan to wear with that jacket?" B: "Mum!" A: "What? It's just a question."

dicky dirt

slang A shirt. The phrase comes from rhyming slang in which "dicky dirt" rhymes with "shirt." Primarily heard in UK. You don't even have your dicky dirt on yet? Come on, man, it's almost time to leave! Can you answer the door? Someone's knocking and I haven't got a dicky dirt on—or pants, for that matter! A: "So that's the dicky dirt you plan to wear with that jacket?" B: "Mum!" A: "What? It's just a question."
See also: dicky, dirt

not hear a dicky bird

To not hear or receive any sound, utterance, or item of communication. ("Dicky bird" is sometimes hyphenated.) We haven't heard a dicky-bird out of the kids all night—I think one of us should go check on them.
See also: bird, dicky, hear, not
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive ?
John Dickey also believes inventory, already too high on most radio stations, needs to go up in local markets -- by four times.
In their Post commentary, Dickey and Rosenberg--previously fierce opponents--said they had come to a meeting of the minds, and had become friends.
Dickey's officials say the displays will also be featured during Memorial Day weekend.
It reveals the literary context out of which Dickey's poems emerge.
I think Dickey reminds us that once we change our lives, the artful sounds we make will live on "unburied," changing the lives of others.
A recently hired assistant professor, I had had little interaction before with Dickey. The first time I remember meeting him was at a department party at the Faculty House, circa 1994, back when the Faculty House was a private club for faculty, filled with (mostly) white patrons and (mostly) African-American staff.
May will assist Dickey in the transition as well as focus on various strategic activities.
Dickey III (Susan), of South Charleston, Sue Bailes of North Carolina, and David A.
Dickey, who had written about being sexually abused as a child in his autobiography Wherever I Wind Up, said that he can emphatise with the abused women and children because of his childhood experience, reports CBS News.
Dickey discovered the leopard's secret when he climbed Kilimanjaro in January 2012 in support of the Bombay Teen Challenge, describing his ascent in several real-time blogs to the New York Times.