Puck

//pʌk// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A mischievous sprite in Celtic mythology and English folklore.
  2. 2
    One of the satellites of the planet Uranus.
Noun
  1. 1
    A mischievous or hostile spirit. archaic

    "William Tyndale allotted this character a role, of leading nocturnal travellers astray as the puck had been said to do since Anglo-Saxon times and the goblin since the later medieval period."

  2. 2
    A hard rubber disc; any other flat disc meant to be hit across a flat surface in a game.

    "In hockey a flat piece of rubber, say four inches long by three wide and about an inch thick, called a ‘puck’, is used."

  3. 3
    billy goat Ireland
  4. 4
    A body position between the pike and tuck positions, with knees slightly bent and folded in; open tuck.

    "The puck position is allowed during competitions when performing multi-twisting multiple somersaults."

  5. 5
    a vulcanized rubber disk 3 inches in diameter that is used instead of a ball in ice hockey wordnet
Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    The mischievous fairy-like creature from English folklore, like Puck from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
  2. 7
    An object shaped like a puck. Canada

    "He reaches into the urinal and picks up the puck. He then walk over to the sink and replaces a bar of soap with the urinal puck."

  3. 8
    a mischievous sprite of English folklore wordnet
  4. 9
    A pointing device with a crosshair.
  5. 10
    A penalty shot.
Verb
  1. 1
    To hit, strike. Ireland

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English pouke, from Old English pūca (“goblin, demon”), from Proto-West Germanic *pūkō, from Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Old Norse púki (“devil”) (dialectal Swedish puke). Doublet of pooka.

Etymology 2

From or influenced by Irish poc (“stroke in hurling, bag”). Compare poke (1861).

Etymology 3

From or influenced by Irish poc (“stroke in hurling, bag”). Compare poke (1861).

Etymology 4

From the Irish poc (“male adult goat, billy goat”). Doublet of buck.

Etymology 5

Blend of pike + tuck.

Etymology 6

From puck (“mischievous spirit”), from Middle English pouke, from Old English pūca (“goblin, demon”), from Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pāug(')- (“brilliance, spectre”). Cognate with Icelandic púki, dialectal Swedish puke (“devil”), Middle Low German spūk (“apparition, ghost”), German Spuk (“a haunting”). More at spook.

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