doohickey

noun

doo·​hick·​ey ˈdü-ˌhi-kē How to pronounce doohickey (audio)
plural doohickeys also doohickies

Examples of doohickey in a Sentence

screw in the doohickey at the top of the lamp shade
Recent Examples on the Web Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Vehicles of all shapes and sizes are present at Woodward, including this minuscule go-kart doohickey. Caleb Miller, Car and Driver, 22 Aug. 2023 Created by the Greek mathematician Archimedes, this mythical doohickey is a dial with wheels as meticulously engineered as those in a modern watch. Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 30 June 2023 Gondry, as always, is into doohickeys, contraptions, and finding low-tech ways to do high-tech things. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 4 June 2023 Ideal for cooking indoors or outdoors (and portable for camping trips), this small doohickey works with all cuts of meat (beef, lamb, chicken, and pork), as well as fish. Marc Saltzman, USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2023 Karlesky’s doohickey of choice is a set of Legos. Guest, Discover Magazine, 16 June 2017 This is the Dyson Zone, a personal air-purifying mask and noise-canceling headphone doohickey that started life well before the Covid-19 pandemic made masks mainstream. Chris Haslam, Wired, 30 Mar. 2022 For full effect, turn off the bathroom lights and only use this plastic doohickey to colorfully illuminate your tub or stall. Marc Saltzman, USA TODAY, 6 Feb. 2022 Every doohickey near her mysteriously explodes, and the undersea station starts flooding, leaving Norah and the other sweaty survivors to find their way to safety while being besieged by a mysterious force. David Sims, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'doohickey.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

probably from doodad + hickey

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of doohickey was in 1914

Dictionary Entries Near doohickey

Cite this Entry

“Doohickey.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doohickey. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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