Jump to:

• puck
  puck

  noun

  a black disk of vulcanized rubber that is to be hit into the goal.
• Puck
  Puck

  noun

  a particularly mischievous sprite in English folklore who appears as a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

puck

¹ American  

[puhk] / pʌk /

noun

1. Ice Hockey. a black disk of vulcanized rubber that is to be hit into the goal.

2. Computers, British. mouse.

---

Puck ² American  

[puhk] / pʌk /

noun

1. Also called hobgoblin.  Also called Robin Goodfellow.  a particularly mischievous sprite in English folklore who appears as a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

2. puck, a malicious or mischievous demon or spirit; a goblin.

---

puck ¹ British  

/ pʌk /

noun

1. a small disc of hard rubber used in ice hockey

2. a stroke at the ball in hurling

3. slang a sharp blow

---

verb

1. to strike (the ball) in hurling

2. slang to strike hard; punch

puck ² British  

/ pʌk /

noun

1. Also called: Robin Goodfellow.  (often capital) a mischievous or evil spirit

---

Other Word Forms

• puckish
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of puck¹

First recorded in 1890–95; alteration of poke ¹

Origin of Puck²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English pouke, Old English pūca; cognate with Old Norse pūki a mischievous demon

Explanation

If you hit a puck with a long stick on a regular basis, you're probably a hockey player. A puck is a round, hard rubber disc. Dictionaries hate to resort to "origin uncertain," but a few of them do when it comes to puck, the small rubber disk used in ice hockey. One theory is that it's related to the verb poke, by way of the archaic verb form of puck, "to hit or strike." Its toehold in history got firmer footing 90 years ago, when the National Hockey League was formed. In the 1930's, hockey players were referred to as pucksters in sports reporting lingo.

Example Sentences

According to reporting by Puck, it would have emphasized Michael’s “traumatizing” strip search, thus doubling down on a strategy that has worked so far: Making him the victim.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026

Local drag artist Adam Carver, also known as Fatt Butcher, plays the quick-witted sprite Puck, and admitted that they brought some of their drag persona to the role.

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

Puck co-founder and reporter Matt Belloni first reported news of the tentative deal Saturday.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026

At a time when diet pills are ubiquitous in Los Angeles, Puck joked that Tinseltown's famously weight-obsessed stars can have their Miyazaki beef "with Ozempic instead of spinach" if they prefer.

From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026

For many weeks during the summer and autumn of 1884 Mr. Blaine was assailed through this figure in the pages of Puck.

From The History of the Nineteenth Century in Caricature by Cooper, Frederic Taber