hickey
Definition
Noun: 1. A temporary red or purple mark on a person's skin, typically on the neck, caused by intense kissing or sucking. This is the most common informal meaning. 2. A small, inflamed bump or blemish on the skin; a pustule or pimple. This is a more general, though less common, dermatological term.
Usage Examples
- Noun (Meaning 1: Love bite):
- She tried to cover the hickey on her neck with a scarf.
- Getting a hickey is sometimes seen as a mark of passion.
- Noun (Meaning 2: Skin blemish):
- The dermatologist said the small hickey on his cheek was just a minor papule.
- Some acne treatments are designed to reduce hickeys and inflammation.
Advanced Usage
- The term is overwhelmingly used in its informal sense (love bite). The dermatological usage is technical and rare in everyday conversation.
- Often carries a connotation of youthful or adolescent behavior.
Variants and Related Words
- Love bite (noun): A direct synonym for the first meaning.
- Kiss mark (noun): Another informal term for a hickey.
- Pustule (noun): A technical term for a small blister or pimple containing pus, related to the second meaning.
- Papule (noun): A technical term for a small, raised, solid skin lesion, related to the second meaning.
Synonyms
- For meaning 1: love bite, kiss mark.
- For meaning 2: pimple, blemish, zit (slang), pustule (technical).
Idioms and Fixed Phrases
- To give someone a hickey: To cause such a mark on another person's skin.
- He accidentally gave her a hickey during their date.
- To have a hickey: To bear such a mark on one's skin.
- She was embarrassed to go to school because she had a hickey.
Noun
-
a temporary red mark on a person's skin resulting from kissing or sucking by their lover
-
a small inflamed elevation of the skin; a pustule or papule; common symptom in acne
