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puck

 - 7 dictionary results

puck

  [puhk]
Use puck in a Sentence
–noun
1. Ice Hockey. a black disk of vulcanized rubber that is to be hit into the goal.
2. British Computers. mouse (def. 4).
Origin:
1890–95; alter. of poke 1

Puck

  [puhk]
–noun
1. Also called Hobgoblin, Robin Goodfellow. a particularly mischievous sprite in English folklore who appears as a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
2. (lowercase) a malicious or mischievous demon or spirit; a goblin.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME pouke, OE pūca; c. ON pūki a mischievous demon
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To puck
puck   (pŭk)   
n.  A hard rubber disk used in ice hockey.

[Perhaps from dialectal puck, to strike.]
Puck   (pŭk)   
n.  

  1. A mischievous sprite in English folklore.

  2. A satellite of Uranus.


[Middle English pouke, goblin, from Old English pūca.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

puck 
"hockey disk," 1891, possibly from puck (v.) "to hit, strike" (1861), which perhaps is related to poke (q.v.) via notion of "push." Another suggestion traces the noun to Ir. poc "bag." Puckster headlinese for "ice hockey player" is attested from 1939.

Puck 
"mischievous fairy" (in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"), probably from pouke "devil, evil spirit" (c.1300), from O.E. puca, cognate with O.N. puki "devil," of unknown origin (cf. pug). Capitalized since 16c. His disguised name was Robin Goodfellow.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

puck

in medieval English folklore, a malicious fairy or demon. In Old and Middle English the word meant simply "demon." In Elizabethan lore he was a mischievous, brownielike fairy also called Robin Goodfellow, or Hobgoblin. As one of the leading characters in William Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, Puck boasts of his pranks of changing shapes, misleading travelers at night, spoiling milk, frightening young girls, and tripping venerable old dames. The Irish pooka, or puca, and the Welsh pwcca are similar household spirits

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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