Hickey

Mark on the skin made by sucking or biting

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.

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Find sources: "Hickey" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2024)

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Medical condition

Hickey

Other names| Kiss mark, love bite, bug bite, love mark
Hickeys on the neck
Pronunciation|

* /ˈhɪki/ HIK-ee

Specialty| Dermatology
Duration| 3–14 days
Causes| suction on skin

A hickey, often referred to as a love bite in British English and specialised use, 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. Many therapists see hickeys as a form of light sadomasochism.[1]

## History

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In a looser definition, the fourth-century Hindu text Kama Sutra contains references to biting with relation to kissing.[2] "Love bite" as a term is first attested in 1749 in John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure.[3] The later term 'hickey', originally used in American English and still predominantly in that dialect, is of unclear etymology.[4] Some sources suggests that it derives from the earlier meaning of "pimple, skin lesion" (c. 1915), itself perhaps a sense extension of "small gadget, device; any unspecified object" (1909).[5]

## References

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1. ^ Janus, Sam; Janus, Cynthia L. (1993). The Janus Report on Sexual Behavior. New York: Wiley. p. 110\. ISBN 978-0-471-52540-0.
2. ^ Vatsyayana (1883). "Part II, Chapter V: On Biting". Kama Sutra. Translated by Burton, Richard Francis. p. 46\. Archived from the original on 2025-07-02. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
3. ^ "love bite". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/38907269100. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
4. ^ "hickey". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
5. ^ Harper, Douglas. "hickie". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2025-07-02.

## External links

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Classification|

* ICD-10: Xxx.x
* ICD-9-CM: xxx

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