hickey hickey a hickey, hickie or love bite in british english, is a bruise or bruise-like mark caused by kissing or sucking skin, usually on the neck, arm, or earlobe. while biting may be part of giving a hickey, sucking is sufficient to burst small superficial blood vessels under the skin. hickeyother nameskiss mark, love bite, bug bitehickeys on the neckpronunciationhick-ee duration5-12 dayscausessuction on skin 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).