Etymology 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.
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.2017, Ronald Hutton, The Witch, Yale University Press, published 2018, page 232:
Etymology From or influenced by Irish poc (“stroke in hurling, bag”). Compare poke (1861).
1
Hobbies, Ice hockey, Lifestyle, Skating, Sports 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.1886 February 28, Boston Daily Globe, page 2:
The game itself, though played by men, was probably meant to enact a mediation of the opposites of male and female, with a circular puck being the feminine symbol and the phallic hockey stick being the masculine symbol.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 184:
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.2004, Art Directors Annual, volume 83, Rotovision, page 142:
Gymnastics, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports 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.2013, The Sports Book: The Sports, the Rules, the Tactics, the Techniques: