What-do-you-call-it Definition & Meaning

American

Usage

Examples

what-do-you-call-it American [hwuhd-uh-yuh-kawl-it, hwod-, wuhd-, wod-] / ˈʰwʌd ə yəˌkɔl ɪt, ˈʰwɒd-, ˈwʌd-, ˈwɒd- / Or whaddyacallit

noun

Informal.

1. whachamacallit.

Usage

What does what-do-you-call-it mean? What-do-you-call-it is a very informal term for an object whose name you don’t know, have forgotten, or can’t recall at the moment.It’s sometimes spelled whaddyacallit. Similar terms are what’s-it-called and whachamacallit (which is also commonly spelled whatchamacallit).It’s often used to refer to gadgets or parts of things that might not even have a commonly known name, as in Before we attach the bracket, we have to insert this what-do-you-call-it. The term is also sometimes used to refer to things that are not physical objects, such as events, types of media, or abstract concepts. It’s not typically used to refer to people (terms used for this purpose include what’s-her-name, what’s-his-name, and what’s-their-name).There are several other similarly informal words that are used in the same way as what-do-you-call-it, including whatsit, thingamajig, thingamabob, thingy, doohickey, and doodad.Example: My kids got me one of those what-do-you-call-its that track your steps. What’s it called? A stepometer?

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“You could be destroying the what-do-you-call-it. The continuum.”

From Literature

Or to be caught unprepared when you discover that a dining room chair leg is wobbly just before guests are scheduled to arrive and you don’t have a what-do-you-call-it to tighten it up.

From Washington Post

Words are used loosely in an indeterminate kind of reference to things, and the mind approaches a condition where practically everything is just a thing-um-bob or a what-do-you-call-it.

From Project Gutenberg

College is out of the question for him, poor boy, unless he entered himself as a what-do-you-call-it?

From Project Gutenberg

Do you mean it's a what-do-you-call-it?

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.