dickens

noun

1. (euphemistic)The devil.

   “She can go to the dickens for what she said.”

   “You scared the dickens out of me.”

   ““Four weeks ago, I was sitting down for breakfast with my beautiful wife, Evie. Evie and I were sitting down with our two beautiful little boys, Connor and C-C-- Cah-- ristopher, and Christopher looks up to me-- he's six years old and full of the dickens--””

2. A disturbance or row.

   “Hugh considered saying, Then I guess I'll just have to kick you a few times instead, you frog son of a bitch. Then he thought of that fat bastard Keeton, handing him a pink slip for kicking up dickens in the local tavern.”

   “And lastly, thanks to my children, Dutch and Tallulah, for allowing me to see the magic of everything I love about popular culture anew through their eyes. This one is for you two dickens!”

3. Used as an intensifier in the phrase the dickens; see that entry.

   “Why the dickens did he do that?”

   “We had the dickens of a row.”

name

1. A surname originating as a patronymic, notably borne by Charles Dickens, English novelist.
2. A small city, the county seat of Dickens County, Texas, United States.