dickey
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
dicky1 (also dickey)
▶noun (pl. dickies or dickeys)
- 1 informal a false shirt front.
- 2 chiefly Brit. a folding outside seat at the back of some early cars.
■ a driver's seat in a carriage.
- 3 Indian the boot of a car.
– origin C18 (denoting a petticoat): each sense prob. has a different origin; perh. partly from Dicky, familiar form of Richard.
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
dicky2
▶adjective (dickier, dickiest) Brit. informal not strong, healthy, or functioning reliably.
– origin C18: perh. from the given name Dick, in the old saying as queer as Dick's hatband.
'dickey' also found in these Oxford entries:
