dicky1
n.
(pl. dickies or dickeys)
- informal a false shirt front.
- chiefly Brit. a folding outside seat at the back of some early cars.
▸a driver's seat in a carriage.
- Indian the boot of a car.
Etymology
C18 (denoting a petticoat): each sense prob. has a different origin; perh. partly from Dicky, familiar form of Richard.
dicky2
adj.
(dickier, dickiest)
Brit. informal not strong, healthy, or functioning reliably.
Etymology
C18: perh. from the given name Dick, in the old saying as queer as Dick's hatband.
