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.
At a Buffalo Sabres playoff ice hockey game in April, a microphone died while the Canadian anthem was being sung and the audience's voices filled in.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Field hockey at the Asian Games started on Friday and runs until 3 October.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
In another Journal story, Rep. Josh Gottheimer told of being questioned about what’s happening with AI at his daughter’s field hockey game.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
He also posted a caricature of him and Carney playing hockey in which Trump tells him: “Get up, Governor.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
He saw as many hockey games as he could, was an active tennis player, skied, swam, and belonged to a Ping-Pong club in Manhattan.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
