mickey
/ˈmɪki/ noun, verb, proper noun
Also a form of mick
Forms mickeys mickeying mickeyed Micky
- noun (computing) The smallest distance that a computer mouse can move a cursor on a screen, which is used to measure the device's resolution or sensitivity.
- noun (informal) The noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala), a honeyeater endemic to eastern and southeastern Australia.
- noun (slang) A young bull, especially one which is unbranded and running wild; a bullock.
- noun (Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, slang, rare) The vulva.
- noun (chiefly Canada, informal) A small bottle of liquor, such as whiskey, usually holding 375 millilitres (13.2 imperial fluid ounces; 12.7 U.S. fluid ounces), typically shaped to fit in one's pocket. “While you’re at the liquor store, get a mickey of rye.”
- noun (chiefly Ireland, slang) The penis. “He fell off the bike and injured his mickey.”
- noun (informal) In take the mickey: a person's (false) pride, which is criticized through disparagement or ridicule; piss.
- noun (chiefly New York City, dated) A potato or sweet potato; specifically, one roasted over a fire outdoors. “We roasted mickeys over a fire with two-foot sticks.”
- verb (transitive) Sometimes followed by up: short for mickey-finn (“to drug (someone) with a Mickey Finn (“an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink deliberately doctored with a drug intended to quickly render the drinker unconscious”); to secretly put a drug into (someone's drink) to render them unconscious”).
- proper noun A diminutive of the male given name Michael.
- proper noun A diminutive of the female given names Michaela and Michelle.
- noun (informal, rare) A Mickey Mouse cartoon.
- noun (originally US) A Roman Catholic person.
- noun (US) An Irishman.
- noun (military, historical) A type of bombsight assisted by radar.
Synonyms
Etymology
Alternative letter-case form of Mickey (noun), from Mickey (“diminutive of the male given name Michael”, proper noun), from Mick (“diminutive of the male given name Michael”) + -ey (a variant of -y (diminutive suffix)).
Noun sense 1 (“smallest distance that a computer mouse can move a cursor”) refers to the cartoon character Mickey Mouse.
Noun sense 5 (“penis”), noun sense 7.1 (“Irishman”), and noun sense 7.2 (“potato; sweet potato”) refer to the fact that since the 17th century Michael and its diminutives Mick, Mickey, and Mike have been one of the most common names in Ireland, and to the prevalence of potatoes in the Irish diet; compare murphy (“potato”).
Noun sense 6.2 (“in take the mickey: (false) pride”) possibly refers to the use of Mickey Bliss as rhyming slang for piss (“act of urinating”); compare take the piss and noun sense 6.1.
The adjective is short for Mickey Mouse, which is rhyming slang for grouse (“(Australia, New Zealand, slang) excellent”).
The verb is short for mickey-finn, from Mickey Finn; compare noun sense 7.3.
The proper noun is derived from Mick (“diminutive of the male given name Michael”) + -ey (a variant of -y (diminutive suffix)).
The common noun is derived from the proper noun. Noun senses 1 (“Mickey Mouse cartoon”) and 3.2 (“type of bombsight assisted by radar”) are short forms of Mickey Mouse. Noun sense 2 (“synonym of Mick”) refers to the fact that since the 17th century Michael and its diminutives Mick, Mickey, and Mike have been one of the most common names in Ireland, and that many Irish people are Roman Catholic. Noun sense 3.1 is a short form of Mickey Finn.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “mickey”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details