pooka
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of pooka
First recorded in 1820–30; from Irish púca, perhaps related to Old English pūca ( see Puck ( def. ))
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.
James Stewart plays Elwood P Dowd, and Harvey is his love object, an invisible 6ft white rabbit sometimes described as a "pooka", a sort of sprite who can make your dreams come true.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 14, 2013
“Musha,” says she, “if the pooka does be cleaning up everything that way when we are asleep, what should we be slaving ourselves for doing his work?”
From Humours of Irish Life by Various
He saw neither pooka nor fairy, but the long horns of the animal he was in search of.
From Love of Brothers by Katharine Tynan
“Musha, I don’t know,” says the pooka: “but I think a good quilted frieze coat would help me to keep the life in me them long nights.”
From Humours of Irish Life by Various
To make a long story short, the next night but two the boy was there again; and if he didn't delight the poor pooka, holding up a fine warm coat before him, it's no mather!
From Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats
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.
