"dickens" meaning in English

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "play the dickens with"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "the dickens you say"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Dicken"
      },
      "expansion": "Dicken",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Dick"
      },
      "expansion": "Dick",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Origin: 1590–1600; apparently a fanciful use of the proper name Dicken, diminutive form of Dick.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "dickens",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "Dickensian"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English euphemisms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She can go to the dickens for what she said."
        },
        {
          "text": "You scared the dickens out of me."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The devil."
      ],
      "id": "en-dickens-en-noun-KEmUABua",
      "links": [
        [
          "devil",
          "devil"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(euphemistic) The devil."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "euphemistic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "15 77 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 79 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 83 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English intensifiers",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Why the dickens did he do that?"
        },
        {
          "text": "We had the dickens of a row."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 123",
          "text": "\"What the dickens does it all mean? The Martians can't get out of their pit, can they?\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In the phrase the dickens (Used as an intensifier)."
      ],
      "id": "en-dickens-en-noun-4tsgqHJh",
      "links": [
        [
          "the dickens",
          "the dickens"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1991, Stephen King, Needful Things",
          "text": "Hugh considered saying, Then I guess I'll just have to kick you a few times instead, you frog son of a bitch. Then he thought of that fat bastard Keeton, handing him a pink slip for kicking up dickens in the local tavern.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Robert C. Sickels, “Acknowledgments”, in 100 Entertainers Who Changed America: An Encyclopedia of Pop Culture Luminaries, Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, LLC",
          "text": "And lastly, thanks to my children, Dutch and Tallulah, for allowing me to see the magic of everything I love about popular culture anew through their eyes. This one is for you two dickens!",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A disturbance or row."
      ],
      "id": "en-dickens-en-noun-rgf6BLUf",
      "links": [
        [
          "disturbance",
          "disturbance"
        ],
        [
          "row",
          "row"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdɪkɪnz/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdɪkənz/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪkənz"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-dickens.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c1/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-dickens.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-dickens.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c1/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-dickens.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-dickens.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "tags": [
        "emphatic",
        "intensifier"
      ],
      "word": "on earth"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "tags": [
        "emphatic",
        "intensifier"
      ],
      "word": "the hell"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "tags": [
        "emphatic",
        "intensifier"
      ],
      "word": "the devil"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "tags": [
        "emphatic",
        "intensifier"
      ],
      "word": "the heck"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "tags": [
        "emphatic",
        "intensifier"
      ],
      "word": "the fuck"
    }
  ],
  "word": "dickens"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English intensifiers",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with unknown or uncertain plurals",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪkənz",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪkənz/2 syllables"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "play the dickens with"
    },
    {
      "word": "the dickens you say"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Dicken"
      },
      "expansion": "Dicken",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Dick"
      },
      "expansion": "Dick",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Origin: 1590–1600; apparently a fanciful use of the proper name Dicken, diminutive form of Dick.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "dickens",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "Dickensian"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English euphemisms"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She can go to the dickens for what she said."
        },
        {
          "text": "You scared the dickens out of me."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The devil."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "devil",
          "devil"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(euphemistic) The devil."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "euphemistic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Why the dickens did he do that?"
        },
        {
          "text": "We had the dickens of a row."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 123",
          "text": "\"What the dickens does it all mean? The Martians can't get out of their pit, can they?\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In the phrase the dickens (Used as an intensifier)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "the dickens",
          "the dickens"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1991, Stephen King, Needful Things",
          "text": "Hugh considered saying, Then I guess I'll just have to kick you a few times instead, you frog son of a bitch. Then he thought of that fat bastard Keeton, handing him a pink slip for kicking up dickens in the local tavern.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Robert C. Sickels, “Acknowledgments”, in 100 Entertainers Who Changed America: An Encyclopedia of Pop Culture Luminaries, Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, LLC",
          "text": "And lastly, thanks to my children, Dutch and Tallulah, for allowing me to see the magic of everything I love about popular culture anew through their eyes. This one is for you two dickens!",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A disturbance or row."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "disturbance",
          "disturbance"
        ],
        [
          "row",
          "row"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdɪkɪnz/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdɪkənz/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪkənz"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-dickens.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c1/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-dickens.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-dickens.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c1/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-dickens.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-dickens.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "emphatic",
        "intensifier"
      ],
      "word": "on earth"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "emphatic",
        "intensifier"
      ],
      "word": "the hell"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "emphatic",
        "intensifier"
      ],
      "word": "the devil"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "emphatic",
        "intensifier"
      ],
      "word": "the heck"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "emphatic",
        "intensifier"
      ],
      "word": "the fuck"
    }
  ],
  "word": "dickens"
}