ice hockey

American  

noun

1. a game played on ice between two teams of six skaters each, the object being to score goals by shooting a puck into the opponents' cage using a stick with a wooden blade set at an obtuse angle to the shaft.

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ice hockey British  

noun

1. a game played on ice by two opposing teams of six players each, who wear skates and try to propel a flat puck into their opponents' goal with long sticks having an offset flat blade at the end

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Etymology

Origin of ice hockey

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

North Korea sent athletes to South Korea for the Pyeongchang Winter ‌Olympics that year, as they formed a unified ice hockey team for the first time.

From BBC • May 4, 2026

McKechnie had treated Anaheim Ducks ice hockey player Paul Kariya for a similar issue without him needing to go under the knife, and the Lakers liked the sound of that.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

U.S. ice hockey came out on top at the Winter Olympics, but America isn’t faring quite as well in the mutual-fund game.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026

Welcoming the Florida Panthers ice hockey team to the White House in January, Trump joked that he hated the assembled players because of their good looks and "all this power."

From Barron's • Mar. 1, 2026

But I’ve also woken up in the body of an ice hockey player, a fencer, an equestrian, and once, recently, a gymnast.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan