A dark bruise on the skin caused by kissing or sucking hard on someone's neck or arm.
Origin uncertain; possibly derived from 'hickory' or from the slang 'hick,' emerging in American English in the early 20th century. The term may relate to a hickory stick or have come from a personified 'Hickey' as a common name for an unknown thing.
Before the internet, hickeys were basically the only public 'proof' of a romantic relationship, which is why teenagers both loved and dreaded getting them—they were like wearing a billboard on your neck! This word perfectly captures how slang emerges when young people need a discreet word for something adults notice.
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