HANKY-PANKY


Meaning of HANKY-PANKY in English

I. -|paŋkē noun

also hankey-pankey

( plural hanky-pankies also hankey-pankeys )

Etymology: alteration (perhaps influenced by handkerchief ) of hocus-pocus

1. : questionable, deceitful, or fraudulent activity : trickery : mischief

there's been some hanky-panky going on, and we haven't got to the bottom of it — F.W.Crofts

wanted things to be completely above board and no hanky-panky

while the philandering physician was playing hanky-panky with his patients — Alan Hynd

2. : meaningless or foolish activity or talk

people went in for too much hullabaloo and hanky-panky — John Steinbeck

had a thorough grasp of the political and social hanky-panky of his period — Time

II. noun

: sexual dalliance

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.