puck

Meanings

Noun

• A mischievous or hostile spirit.
• A hard rubber disc; any other flat disc meant to be hit across a flat surface in a game.
• An object shaped like a puck.
• A pointing device with a crosshair.
• A penalty shot.
• billy goat
• A body position between the pike and tuck positions, with knees slightly bent and folded in; open tuck.

Verb

• To hit, strike.

Related

Similar words

• See goblin and fairy

Origin

• From Middle English puke, from Old English pūca ("goblin, demon"), from Proto-Germanic *pūkô ("a goblin, spook"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pāug(')- ("brilliance, spectre"). Cognate with Old Norse púki ("devil") (dialectal Swedish puke), Middle Low German spōk, spūk, German Spuk ("a haunting"). pooka. More at spook.
• From or influenced by Irish poc ("stroke in hurling, bag"). Compare poke (1861).
• From the Irish poc. buck.