hokey-pokey

[ hoh-kee-poh-kee ]
/ ˈhoʊ kiˈpoʊ ki /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR hokey-pokey ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

hocus-pocus; trickery.
Often Hokey-Pokey. a dance performed in a circle, or a song describing the simple movements of the dance.
ice cream as formerly sold by street vendors.
New Zealand. a toffee-flavored candy or ice cream popular in New Zealand.

Trademark.

Hokey-Pokey. a brand of white chocolate ice cream with honeycomb and caramel.

Origin of hokey-pokey

First recorded in 1840–50; variant of hocus-pocus

Words nearby hokey-pokey

hoka, hokan, hoke, hokey, hokey cokey, hokey-pokey, hoki, hokiang, hokinson, hokkaido, hokku

Words related to hokey-pokey

absurdity, disobedience, foolishness, hanky-panky, horseplay, inanity, insanity, lunacy, misbehavior, mischief, monkeyshine, nonsense, poppycock, prank, silliness, stupidity, craziness, tommyrot, absurdness, antics

Example sentences from the Web for hokey-pokey

  • Hot gauffrette and hokey-pokey venders are always near at hand.

    Paris Vistas |Helen Davenport Gibbons

  • Here is the poorer Italian colony; organ-grinders, ice-cream-barrow-men, "hokey-pokey" sellers, and their like.

    Highways and Byways in London |Mrs. E. T. Cook.

  • They both laughed, feeling like mischievous children who had played a successful trick on the hokey-pokey man.

    The Lion and The Mouse |Charles Klein

  • I didn't notice anything except a hokey-pokey seller, adding his mite to the infant mortality of the district.

    The Clarion |Samuel Hopkins Adams

British Dictionary definitions for hokey-pokey

hokey-pokey
/ (ˌhəʊkɪˈpəʊkɪ) /

noun

another word for hocus-pocus (def. 1), hocus-pocus (def. 2)
NZ a brittle toffee sold in lumps