hockey

American  

[hok-ee] / ˈhɒk i /

noun

1. ice hockey.

2. field hockey.

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hockey ¹ British  

/ ˈhɒkɪ /

noun

1. Also called (esp US and Canadian): field hockey. 

   1. a game played on a field by two opposing teams of 11 players each, who try to hit a ball into their opponents' goal using long sticks curved at the end

   2. ( as modifier )

      hockey stick

      hockey ball

2. See ice hockey

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hockey ² British  

/ ˈhɒkɪ /

noun

1. Also: hawkey.   horkey.  dialect

   1. the feast at harvest home; harvest supper

   2. ( as modifier )

      the hockey cart

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Etymology

Origin of hockey

1520–30; earlier hockie, perhaps equivalent to hock- hook ¹ + -ie -ie

Explanation

Hockey is short for ice hockey or field hockey, but it usually refers to ice hockey, the sport where people skate on ice and use big hockey sticks to whack a puck into a goal. For ice hockey, players wear protective gear and helmets. A flat puck is knocked across the ice with long, paddle-shaped sticks. Field hockey is similar, though there is less contact between players, and a ball, instead of a puck, is smacked with sticks. The origin of hockey is slightly unclear, although it may stem from the Middle French hoquet, "shepherd's staff," which resembles a hockey stick.

Example Sentences

At the risk of aping Tampa Bay hockey fans and chanting “USA! USA!”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

He rooted for the men’s Canadian hockey team and the women’s U.S. team during the Olympics, a diplomatic effort to avoid picking sides.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

Actually, crediting the Kings with playing playoff hockey isn’t necessarily a compliment since the team hasn’t won a postseason series since hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2014.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

“It’s a credit to the guys, the leadership. They played playoff hockey for a while now. And it’s allowed us this opportunity.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

Ripping: what did it mean?—God knows, I did not care; it was the sort of word that schoolgirls had for hockey, wildly inappropriate to those past weeks of misery and exultation.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier