Hickys

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A red or purple mark left on the skin by sucking or biting, often called a love bite ; an informal name for a small device or gadget whose name is forgotten
2. A bruise raised on the skin from prolonged sucking, commonly known as a love bite ; a casual term for a little gadget or contraption
3. The welt left on the neck or body by a lover's kiss ; a colloquial word for any small mechanical device or gizmo someone cannot name

Etymology: The form "hickys" is a misspelling of the plural "hickeys," which is the plural of "hickey." Hickey is American slang, and its origin is uncertain. Dictionaries record it as a generic word for a gadget or thingamajig in the early twentieth century, and its sense for a bruise left by sucking the skin, meaning a love bite, appears in American English from roughly the 1920s onward. The bruise sense likely grew from the older slang use of the term for a small lump or pimple on the skin.

Synonyms: love bite, gadget, doohickey