hockey
Americannoun
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Also called (esp US and Canadian): field hockey.
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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
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( as modifier )
hockey stick
hockey ball
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See ice hockey
noun
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To that point, he’d only made smaller contributions, primarily to the club hockey and golf teams.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Hockey was dropped despite a £5m national hockey centre being built for Glasgow 2014.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
A White House fact sheet said the new US tariffs will cover "products ranging from wine to hockey sticks to cement."
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
The bridge, named after the Canadian hockey star who led the Detroit Red Wings to Stanley Cup championships in the 1950s, has become a flashpoint in the at-times bitter trade dispute between the two countries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
That’s the stupid thing I see over and over in my head: the scenes from my brother Muhammad’s extreme hockey moments video when the players slam into each other and lie tangled on the ice.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
