not say/hear a dicky bird

not hear a dicky bird

To not hear or receive any sound, utterance, or item of communication. ("Dicky bird" is sometimes hyphenated.) We haven't heard a dicky-bird out of the kids all night—I think one of us should go check on them.See also: bird, dicky, hear, not

not say a dicky bird

To not say or communicate anything at all. ("Dicky bird" is sometimes hyphenated.) We've had him detained for four hours, but he won't say a dicky bird to us about his involvement in the robbery.See also: bird, dicky, not, say

not say/hear a ˈdicky bird

(British English, informal) say/hear nothing: Don’t look at me! I didn’t say a dicky bird. ♢ We haven’t heard a dicky bird from her for weeks.This idiom is from rhyming slang, in which dicky bird stands for ‘word’.See also: bird, dicky, hear, not, say