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# dickens

«dickens» in Mova's school dictionary: **Charles Dickens was a famous English writer of long…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

proper noun (Dickens); noun in phrases (the dickens — old-fashioned)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Charles Dickens was a famous English writer of long novels, such as «Oliver Twist», «A Christmas Carol» and «Great Expectations». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dickens/#m1)

2) (old-fashioned, mild) «The dickens» is a gentle word for the devil, used to show surprise or annoyance, as in «What the dickens is that?» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dickens/#m2)

3) A Dickens novel or Dickens's world can mean a picture of poor, dirty, crowded old city streets. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dickens/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In school English, Dickens is read as a classic writer; pupils meet Scrooge, Oliver and Pip. «Dickensian» describes poor, grim old-fashioned places or a story with many odd characters. In everyday talk older people may say «what the dickens» or «as cute as the dickens» (US) instead of a stronger word. It is mostly a name, so it has few other uses.

### examples

- Our class is reading «A Christmas Carol» by Charles Dickens. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dickens/#x1)
- Dickens wrote about poor children working in London. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dickens/#x2)
- Scrooge is one of Dickens's most famous characters. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dickens/#x3)
- What the dickens is all that noise? (old-fashioned) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dickens/#x4)
- Grandpa said the puppy was as cute as the dickens. (US, old-fashioned) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dickens/#x5)
- The old workhouse looked like something out of Dickens. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dickens/#x6)
- We watched a play of «Oliver Twist», a Dickens story. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dickens/#x7)
- "What the dickens," said the squire, "do you mean by lying in the middle of the road like that?" [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dickens/#x8)

### note

A proper noun: write it with a capital D when it means the writer. The possessive is «Dickens's» or «Dickens'». «The dickens» as a mild oath is lower case and old-fashioned; it is a softer word for «the devil», not rude. The adjective is «Dickensian».

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «dickens» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dickens/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.