Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) sexual intercourse.

[1868		S.P. Boyer diary 16 Oct. in Barnes Naval Surgeon (1963) 102: A grand ‘John Nugi,’ or, as some call it, a ‘Johnnie Nookee.’ In order for me to explain said affair, it will be necessary for me to state that a ‘Nugi’ [Nugu, meaning to take off (one’s clothing)] consists of nothing more or less than a fine display of human form divine of ye fair but frail daughters of Japan. [...] Every girl follows a leader, and if she makes a mistake, why, she forfeits a portion of her clothing. This little game continues until everyone of the girls is as naked as she was when she came into the world. By this time the girls are about half full of saki; the gentlemen drink enough to make them feel their oats. As soon as the girls are naked, why, so soon do they commence to perform all manner of tricks, dancing in the most voluptuous manner, placing themselves in all the different kinds of attitudes that one might imagine men and women would take whilst having carnal communication with each other].
1928		ref. in H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 272: Nookie has been dated to 1928; it is used in Front Page , by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, which opened that year.
c.1930		(ref. to late 19C) N. Kimball Amer. Madam (1981) 94: If you can get them to screw, get them into bed for the nookie.
1932		(con. 1910s) J.T. Farrell Young Lonigan in Studs Lonigan (1936) 116: Schroeder was a good guy, but [...] he liked his nooky, and he was always mixed up with some woman or other.
1937		D. Fuchs Low Company 71: ‘Shorty’s going out for nookey,’ said Lurie, laughing.
1941		B. Schulberg What Makes Sammy Run? (1992) 222: Lookit Sammy tryin’ to get his first nookey!
1948		(con. 1944) N. Mailer Naked and Dead 161: A woman that likes her nookie ain’t gonna be satisfied with one man.
1952		W.R. Burnett Little Men, Big World 18: You got a pretty good idea I ain’t going out looking for nooky.
1963		C. Wood ‘Prisoner and Escort’ in Cockade (1965) I iii: A D.P. climbing out of Celle camp one night after a bit of nooky slit his throat for being on stag.
1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 276: Maybe we’ll make the rounds of the bars. I could use a little nookie.
1969		P. Boyle All Looks Yellow to the Jaundiced Eye 39: And you leaving the door ajar any night you wanted nookey.
1970		B. Naughton Alfie Darling 186: It hardly seemed worth it to go and visit her just for a bit of nukky.
1972		T. O’Brien If I Die in a Combat Zone (1980) 50: You can talk about politics and nooky all the goddamn night.
1978		D. DeLillo Running Dog (1992) 203: ‘I could go for some zookie.’ ‘What’s zookie?’ ‘Jewish nookie.’.
1979		J. Morrow Confessions of Proinsias O’Toole 9: Two days, thirty-two bottles of milk and almost continuous nook since Meehaul’s phone call.
1984		‘Derek Raymond’ He Died with His Eyes Open 115: Still fancies he get his nookie, though.
1986		C. Bowles G’DAY 87: You can also dip the wick, sink the sausage or have a nooky.
1986		R. Campbell In La-La Land We Trust (1999) 43: A television actor, high on rum or toot, lost his chance to get some nooky.
1988		Frank Zappa ‘Filthy Habits’ 🎵 How can I get some nook tonight in Passaic.
1991		F. Mac Anna Last of the High Kings 103: He was always asking girls if they wanted to go outside for a bit of ‘nicky-hooky’. The girls always turned him down.
1998		G. Burn Happy Like Murderers 51: She ended up having sex – ‘nookie’ she called it – with Ben on the floor.
1998		Guardian 31 July 19: The American media, obsessed by [...] gossip about a bit of nooky.
2000		M. Manning Get Your Cock Out 145: Is that all you can think about at a time like this! [...] Fucking nooky!?
2002		J. Cameron Hell on Hoe Street 129: All them days and no nookie?
2004		R.G. Barrett Rosa Marie’s Baby (2013) [ebook] And if you like a bit of nooky, like I do, it doesn’t take long to get a reputation.
2008		A. Lovejoy ‘The Smell of Tears’ at www.acidalex.com 🌐 4: It’s always worse when he can’t have sex. No nookie and a much, much smaller bank account.
2012		(con. 1943) G.S. Manson Coorparoo Blues [ebook] It was a lonely spot, no doubt perfect for a bit of nookie after dark.
2015		I. Welsh Decent Ride 46: Dinnae worry aboot nookie, yi’ll git it in the morn!
2018		R. O’Neill ‘Ocker’ in The Drover’s Wives (2019) 181: He’d coughed up for a buggy, whiich meant a bit of nookie in hotels.
2020		T. Pluck ‘Hula Hula Boys’ in What Pluckery Is This? (28 Jan 2024) 🌐 [She] might give him a little goodbye nookie.

2. in attrib. use of sense 1.

2015

I. Welsh Decent Ride 46: Huv you been oan that internet again? [...] As long as yir no lookin at nookie websites.

3. (orig. US, also piece of nookie) a woman seen as no more than an object of possible seduction.

1928		M. Bodenheim Georgie May 22: He had a weakness fo’ slim nooky with real blonde hair.
c.1930		‘Adventures of a Fuller Brush Man: “The Amorous Mrs. Twirp”’ [comic strip] in B. Adelman Tijuana Bibles (1997) 47: The hottest piece of nookie that ever buried a stiff.
1935		J. Conroy World to Win 160: You like white nooky, don’t you? You colored boys go wild about that.
c.1940		‘Kate Smitz in “When th’ Moon Comes over the Mountain”’ [comic strip] in B. Adelman Tijuana Bibles (1997) 109: I prefer my nookie wid a little fat on it.
1962		(con. 1940s) G. Mandel Wax Boom 260: We can get some young nookie, some clean nookie. She didn’t smell too good, that old pig.
1971		L. Bangs in Psychotic Reactions (1988) 63: A very youthful song of discovery and new nooky.
1978		(con. WWII) T. Sanchez Hollywoodland (1981) 73: He’ll get all the Jap nookie he can eat.
1983		A. Payne ‘Willesden Suite’ Minder [TV script] 66: It’s Riding’s bit of nookie, you dozy berk. She’s alright.
1993		T. Jones Pugilist at Rest 107: You give a gorilla a banana and a piece of nooky and you’ve got a happy gorilla.
2000		W.T. Vollmann Royal Family 664: You can’t be messin’ around with twelve-year-old nookie.

4. (orig. US, also nooker) the vagina.

1968		N. Heard Howard Street 70: She sure got hot nookie, huh.
1971		Current Sl. VI 8: Nooker, n. The vagina.
1971		R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 175: ‘He blind. He cain’t see mah nooky’.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 57: the female sex organ [...] nooky [nookie, nookey].
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 123: Christ! Would the Bearded Clam That Ate San Pedro have met its match in a Panavision version of that nookie nuker.
2008		J. Lansdale Leather Maiden 212: Sporting a chest tattoo that said tight nookie is proof of god.

5. (US gay) the anus.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.