<Tr> <Th> Synonym </Th> <Td> Kiss mark, love bite, bug bite </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Hickeys on the neck . </Td> </Tr> <P> A hickey, hickie or love bite in British English, is a bruise or bruise - like mark caused by the kissing or sucking of the skin, usually on the neck or arm . While biting might be part of giving a hickey, sucking is sufficient to burst small superficial blood vessels under the skin . </P> <P> 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). </P>

What does it mean to get a hickey