"doohickey" meaning in All languages combined

See doohickey on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

IPA: /ˈduhɪki/ [US] Audio: en-us-doohickey.ogg Forms: doohickeys [plural]
Etymology: First attested 1914, of uncertain origin, probably from doodad + hickey. Head templates: {{en-noun}} doohickey (plural doohickeys)
  1. (slang, originally US) A thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one does not know or cannot recall) Tags: slang Synonyms: thingy, dohickey, do-hickey, doo-hickey, do-hinky, doohinky Translations (a thing): dinges [masculine] (Dutch), umo (Esperanto), vehje (Finnish), vekotin (Finnish), hilavitkutin (Finnish), truc [masculine] (French), machin [masculine] (French), Dingsbums (German), Dingsda (German), coso (Italian), mea (Maori), wihajster [masculine] (Polish), coisa [feminine] (Portuguese), negócio [masculine] (Portuguese), trem [masculine] (Portuguese), troço [masculine] (Portuguese), treco [masculine] (Portuguese), штуко́вина (štukóvina) [feminine] (Russian), stvarčica [feminine] (Serbo-Croatian), grunka (Swedish), mackapär (Swedish), manick (Swedish), mojäng (Swedish), pryl (Swedish), sak (Swedish), ting (Swedish), tingest (Swedish), samting (Tok Pisin)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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  "etymology_text": "First attested 1914, of uncertain origin, probably from doodad + hickey.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "doohickeys",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "doohickey (plural doohickeys)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
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        },
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          "kind": "other",
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
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          "source": "w"
        },
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          "kind": "other",
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Maori translations",
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
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          "kind": "other",
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        },
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Tok Pisin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "What does this doohickey do?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1981 October 27, William E. Geist, “HUNTING FOR DOOHICKEYS”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "Customers will ask for \"gizmos\" and \"what-cha-ma-call-its\" and \"doohickeys,\" and make crude drawings on paper bags of what it is they think they need.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019 December 8, Scott Tobias, “‘Watchmen’ Season 1, Episode 8 Recap: Chicken or Egg?”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "Besides, the show has invented a doohickey that makes it possible for Dr. Manhattan to exist as Calvin, a stable and supportive husband and father with no memory of his life as Jon Osterman, who can live out those 10 years as something close to a human being.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one does not know or cannot recall)"
      ],
      "id": "en-doohickey-en-noun-yjwP4f~B",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, originally US) A thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one does not know or cannot recall)"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "thingy"
        },
        {
          "word": "dohickey"
        },
        {
          "word": "do-hickey"
        },
        {
          "word": "doo-hickey"
        },
        {
          "word": "do-hinky"
        },
        {
          "word": "doohinky"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "dinges"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "umo"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "vehje"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "vekotin"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "hilavitkutin"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "truc"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "machin"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "Dingsbums"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "Dingsda"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "coso"
        },
        {
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "mea"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "wihajster"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "coisa"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "negócio"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "trem"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "troço"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "treco"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "štukóvina",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "штуко́вина"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "stvarčica"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "grunka"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "mackapär"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "manick"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "mojäng"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "pryl"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "sak"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "ting"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "tingest"
        },
        {
          "code": "tpi",
          "lang": "Tok Pisin",
          "sense": "a thing",
          "word": "samting"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈduhɪki/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-doohickey.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bb/En-us-doohickey.ogg/En-us-doohickey.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/En-us-doohickey.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "doohickey"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "First attested 1914, of uncertain origin, probably from doodad + hickey.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "doohickeys",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "doohickey (plural doohickeys)",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English nouns",
        "English placeholder terms",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Dutch translations",
        "Terms with Esperanto translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Italian translations",
        "Terms with Maori translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Portuguese translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations",
        "Terms with Swedish translations",
        "Terms with Tok Pisin translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "What does this doohickey do?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1981 October 27, William E. Geist, “HUNTING FOR DOOHICKEYS”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "Customers will ask for \"gizmos\" and \"what-cha-ma-call-its\" and \"doohickeys,\" and make crude drawings on paper bags of what it is they think they need.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019 December 8, Scott Tobias, “‘Watchmen’ Season 1, Episode 8 Recap: Chicken or Egg?”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "Besides, the show has invented a doohickey that makes it possible for Dr. Manhattan to exist as Calvin, a stable and supportive husband and father with no memory of his life as Jon Osterman, who can live out those 10 years as something close to a human being.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one does not know or cannot recall)"
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, originally US) A thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one does not know or cannot recall)"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "thingy"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈduhɪki/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-doohickey.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bb/En-us-doohickey.ogg/En-us-doohickey.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/En-us-doohickey.ogg"
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  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "dohickey"
    },
    {
      "word": "do-hickey"
    },
    {
      "word": "doo-hickey"
    },
    {
      "word": "do-hinky"
    },
    {
      "word": "doohinky"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "dinges"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "umo"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "vehje"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "vekotin"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "hilavitkutin"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "truc"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "machin"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "Dingsbums"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "Dingsda"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "coso"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "mea"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "wihajster"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "coisa"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "negócio"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "trem"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "troço"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "treco"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "štukóvina",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "штуко́вина"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "stvarčica"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "grunka"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "mackapär"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "manick"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "mojäng"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "pryl"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "sak"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "ting"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "tingest"
    },
    {
      "code": "tpi",
      "lang": "Tok Pisin",
      "sense": "a thing",
      "word": "samting"
    }
  ],
  "word": "doohickey"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-10 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (df33d17 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.