Hickey

For other uses, see Hickey (disambiguation).

"Love bite" redirects here. For the film, see Love Bite.

Not to be confused with Kissing contusion, a type of knee injury.

Hickey
Other names	Kiss mark, love bite, bug bite, love mark
Hickeys on the neck
Pronunciation	Hick-ee
Specialty	Dermatology
Duration	3–14 days
Causes	suction on skin

A hickey, hickie, or sometimes referred to as a love bite in British English, is a bruise or bruise-like mark caused by biting or sucking the skin of a person, usually on their neck, arm, or earlobe.^[citation needed] While biting may be part of giving a hickey, sucking is sufficient to burst small superficial blood vessels under the skin to produce bruising. A hickey is sometimes used to mark someone as being the target of a partner's romantic affection or as belonging to them.[1][2][3][4][5]

Etymology

The origin of the word is from its earlier meaning of "pimple, skin lesion" (c. 1915); perhaps a sense extension and spelling variation from the earlier word meaning "small gadget, device; any unspecified object" which has an unknown origin (1909).[6]

References

1. "Thomas Hickey says the benching of rookie NY Islanders D Isaiah George is no big deal". Eyes On Isles. 2024-12-11. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
2. "How To Get Rid of Your Hickey, Fast". Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
3. "How to Get Rid of a Hickey". 2024-10-15. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
4. "Need To Get Rid of a Hickey ASAP? Try These 5 Tips". Health. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
5. "Andria Hickey helms programming at Shorefast and Fogo Island Arts - Concordia University". www.concordia.ca. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
6. "hickie - Origin and meaning of hickie by Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com.

External links