puck

¹ American  

[puhk] / pʌk /

noun

1. Ice Hockey. a black disk of vulcanized rubber that is to be hit into the goal.

2. Computers, British. mouse.

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Puck ² American  

[puhk] / pʌk /

noun

1. Also called hobgoblin.  Also called Robin Goodfellow.  a particularly mischievous sprite in English folklore who appears as a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

2. puck, a malicious or mischievous demon or spirit; a goblin.

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puck ¹ British  

/ pʌk /

noun

1. a small disc of hard rubber used in ice hockey

2. a stroke at the ball in hurling

3. slang a sharp blow

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verb

1. to strike (the ball) in hurling

2. slang to strike hard; punch

puck ² British  

/ pʌk /

noun

1. Also called: Robin Goodfellow.  (often capital) a mischievous or evil spirit

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Other Word Forms

• puckish adjective

Etymology

Origin of puck¹

First recorded in 1890–95; alteration of poke ¹

Origin of Puck²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English pouke, Old English pūca; cognate with Old Norse pūki a mischievous demon

Example Sentences

With the puck inches away from sneaking past him, a desperate, flailing Hellebuyck reached back and somehow managed to deflect it away at the last possible moment.

From The Wall Street Journal

The play started with Toronto Maples Leafs captain Auston Matthews digging the puck out along the boards in the U.S. end.

From Los Angeles Times

By the time the first puck dropped in Italy, the message from the U.S. was uncomplicated.

From The Wall Street Journal

"We had a lot of good opportunities, a lot of good battles to get the puck back," said MacKinnon.

From Barron's

Star goalie Aerin Frankel had been a brick wall—in the rare instances that a puck had actually made it anywhere in the vicinity of the net.

From The Wall Street Journal