Like the Dickens

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Like the Dickens'? A lot; as in 'hurts like the dickens'.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Like the Dickens'?

This phrase has nothing to do with Charles Dickens. Dickens is a euphemism, specifically a minced-oath, for the word devil, possibly via devilkins. Shakespeare used it in 'the Merry Wives of Windsor, 1600:

I cannot tell what the dickens his name is my husband had him of.

See other phrases and sayings from Shakespeare.