kecksy
English
Etymology
Possibly from kex, putatively meaning "something inedible or that causes one to gag," from keck (“to retch”)[1]
Noun
kecksy (plural kecksies)
- The hollow stalk of an umbelliferous plant, such as the hemlock.
- c. 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fifth, Act V, Scene 2, 1833, Samuel Johnson, George Steevens, Isaac Reed, Edmond Malone (editors), The Plays and Poems of William Shakspeare, New Edition, page 436,
- […] Conceives by idleness; and nothing teems, / But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs, / Losing both beauty and utility.
- c. 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fifth, Act V, Scene 2, 1833, Samuel Johnson, George Steevens, Isaac Reed, Edmond Malone (editors), The Plays and Poems of William Shakspeare, New Edition, page 436,
References
- 1833, T. F. Thiselton Dyer, Folk-Lore of Shakespeare, 2004, Facsimile Reprint, page 212 — It has been suggested that kecksies may be a mistaken form of the plural kex ; and that kex may have been formed from keck, something so dry that the eater would keck at it, or be unable to swallow it.
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