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Jan 31, 2023
This week’s theme
Words with multiple meanings

This week’s words
churl
dickey
dingbat
decollate
lave

dickey
Image: Amazon

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

dickey, dicky, or dickie

PRONUNCIATION:
(DIK-ee)

MEANING:
noun:1. A detachable shirtfront, collar, bib, etc.
 2. A small bird.
 3. A donkey.
 4. The driver’s seat or rear seat in a carriage.
 5. The luggage compartment of a vehicle; also known as trunk or a boot.
adjective:1. Not working properly.
 2. In poor health.

ETYMOLOGY:
For noun: A diminutive of Dick, a nickname for Richard. Earliest documented use: 1753.
For adjective: Of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1788.

USAGE:
“What she didn’t realize was that she wasn’t wearing a blouse, only a dickey.”
Jo James; Be Still My Heart; PublishAmerica; 2007.

“Then he went to his bedroom and packed up ... and put this in the dickey of his car.”
H.G. Wells; Men Like Gods; Cassell; 1923.

“And, despite a dicky heart and a brush with cancer, he’s about to embark on nationwide tour.”
Rachael Bletchly; They Named Me Wilde But I Was Too Tired for Girls; The Daily Mirror (London, UK); Apr 13, 2019.

See more usage examples of dickey in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Do not be too quick to assume your enemy is a savage just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy because he thinks you are a savage. Or perhaps he is afraid of you because he feels that you are afraid of him. And perhaps if he believed you are capable of loving him he would no longer be your enemy. -Thomas Merton, monk, writer (31 Jan 1915-1968)

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