puka

[ poo-kuh ]

noun
  1. a small white shell found on Pacific, especially Hawaiian, beaches and strung in clusters to make necklaces.

Origin of puka

1
First recorded in 1970–75; of uncertain origin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use puka in a sentence

  • These lava beds are full of treacherous pukas and into one of them Kamehameha stumbled, sinking to his armpits.

    Legends of Wailuku | Charlotte Hapai

British Dictionary definitions for puka

puka

/ (ˈpuːkɑː) /


nounplural puka
  1. NZ another name for broadleaf (def. 2)

Origin of puka

1
Māori

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012