doohickey

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doohickey

/ˈduhɪki/ US

Where it comes from

First attested 1914, of uncertain origin, probably from doodad + hickey.

noun doohickeys · dohickey · do-hickey · doo-hickey · do-hinky · doohinky

slang A thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one does not know or cannot recall) What does this doohickey do?
Similar: Sorted by number of Google hits, widget, hickey, gizmo, thingy, gimmick, thingie, jigger, gismo, gubbins, whatsit, thingamajig

Translations

Every language

noun a thing

Português	coisa, negócio, trem, troço, treco, trambolho
Français	truc, machin
Deutsch	Dingsbums, Dingsda
Italiano	coso
Русский	штуко́вина štukóvina

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MLA

"doohickey." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/doohickey. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

doohickey. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/doohickey

Chicago

"doohickey." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/doohickey.

BibTeX

@misc{doohickey_2026,
  title = {doohickey},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/doohickey},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}