Buck vs. Puck — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Fiza Rafique — Updated on May 17, 2024
Buck refers to a male deer or a dollar in slang, while puck is a flat disc used in ice hockey or a mischievous fairy in folklore.
Difference Between Buck and Puck
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Buck primarily refers to a male deer, often used in the context of hunting or wildlife. It also serves as slang for a dollar in American English. Puck, on the other hand, is a term used in ice hockey to describe the small, hard rubber disc that players hit. It also refers to a character in folklore, particularly known from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
While a buck can be commonly seen in various forests and parks across North America, a puck is primarily associated with ice hockey arenas. Buck as a slang term for a dollar is widely recognized in everyday conversation, whereas puck in a literary sense often evokes the mischievous fairy known for causing trouble.
In terms of physical appearance, a buck is a living creature with antlers, typically found in the wild. A puck is an inanimate object, usually made of vulcanized rubber, and is central to the game of ice hockey.
Buck as a slang for currency is often used in phrases like "a buck fifty" meaning $1.50, whereas puck as a sports term is integral to ice hockey rules and gameplay. The cultural significance of a buck in literature and everyday language differs greatly from the whimsical and sporty connotations of a puck.
Comparison Chart
Primary Definition
Male deer; slang for a dollar
Disc used in ice hockey; mischievous fairy
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Context of Use
Wildlife, slang for money
Ice hockey, folklore
Physical Form
Living animal with antlers
Hard rubber disc
Common Environments
Forests, parks
Ice hockey rinks, literary works
Cultural References
Hunting, currency
Sports, Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Compare with Definitions
Buck
To resist or oppose.
She tends to buck authority when she feels it's unjust.
Puck
The process of shaping clay or similar materials.
The potter shaped the clay into a puck for the base of the pot.
Buck
A male deer.
Puck
A name for a person with a playful nature.
Her playful antics earned her the nickname Puck.
Buck
The male of various other mammals, such as antelopes, kangaroos, mice, or rabbits.
Puck
A term for mischief or prank.
He played a puck on his friend by hiding his keys.
Buck
Antelope considered as a group
A herd of buck.
Puck
A mischievous sprite in English folklore.
Buck
A robust or high-spirited young man.
Puck
A hard rubber disk used in ice hockey.
Buck
A fop.
Puck
A mischievous or hostile spirit.
Buck
(Offensive) A Native American or black man.
Puck
(ice hockey) A hard rubber disc; any other flat disc meant to be hit across a flat surface in a game.
Buck
An act or instance of bucking
A horse that unseated its rider on the first buck.
Puck
An object shaped like a puck.
Buck
Buckskin.
Puck
(computing) A pointing device with a crosshair.
Buck
Bucks Buckskin breeches or shoes.
Puck
A penalty shot.
Buck
A sawhorse or sawbuck.
Puck
Billy goat
Buck
A leather-covered frame used for gymnastic vaulting.
Puck
A body position between the pike and tuck positions, with knees slightly bent and folded in; open tuck.
Buck
(Informal) A dollar.
Puck
To hit, strike.
Buck
(Informal) An amount of money
Working overtime to make an extra buck.
Puck
A celebrated fairy, "the merry wanderer of the night;" - called also Robin Goodfellow, Friar Rush, Pug, etc.
He meeteth Puck, whom most men callHobgoblin, and on him doth fall.
Buck
A large round amount of currency, especially a hundred dollars.
Puck
The goatsucker.
Buck
A hundred of some other units, especially miles per hour or pounds
Was doing a buck twenty out on the Interstate.
A boxer weighing in at a buck fifty.
Puck
A disk of vulcanized rubber used in the game of hockey, as the object to be driven through the goals.
Buck
(Games) A counter or marker formerly passed from one poker player to another to indicate an obligation, especially one's turn to deal.
Puck
A mischievous sprite of English folklore
Buck
(Informal) Obligation to account for something; responsibility
Tried to pass the buck for the failure to his boss.
Puck
A vulcanized rubber disk 3 inches in diameter that is used instead of a ball in ice hockey
Buck
To leap upward while arching the back
The horse bucked in fright.
Puck
The disc used in ice hockey.
The player skillfully shot the puck into the net.
Buck
To charge with the head lowered; butt.
Puck
A mischievous fairy or sprite.
Puck causes much of the confusion in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Buck
To make sudden jerky movements; jolt
The motor bucked and lurched before it finally ran smoothly.
Buck
To resist stubbornly and obstinately; balk.
Buck
(Informal) To strive with determination
Bucking for a promotion.
Buck
To throw or toss by bucking
Buck off a rider.
Bucked the packsaddle off its back.
Buck
To oppose directly and stubbornly; go against
“Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the country, is bucking the trend” (American Demographics).
Buck
(Football) To charge into (an opponent's line) carrying the ball.
Buck
To butt against with the head.
Buck
To pass (a task or duty) to another, especially so as to avoid responsibility
"We will see the stifling of initiative and the increased bucking of decisions to the top" (Winston Lord).
Buck
Of the lowest rank in a specified military category
A buck private.
A buck sergeant.
Buck
A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare, and sometimes the male of other animals such as the hamster, ferret and shad.
Buck
(US) An uncastrated sheep, a ram.
Buck
A young buck; an adventurous, impetuous, dashing, or high-spirited young man.
Buck
A fop or dandy.
Buck
A black or Native American man.
Buck
A unit of a particular currency
Buck
A dollar (one hundred cents).
Can I borrow five bucks?
Buck
A rand (currency unit).
Buck
A euro.
Buck
Money.
Corporations will do anything to make a buck.
Buck
(finance) One million dollars.
Buck
One hundred.
The police caught me driving a buck forty [140 miles per hour] on the freeway.
That skinny guy? C'mon, he can't weigh more than a buck and a quarter [125 pounds].
Buck
Clipping of buckshot
He loaded the shotgun with two rounds of double-ought buck.
Buck
An implement the body of which is likened to a male sheep’s body due maintaining a stiff-legged position as if by stubbornness.
Buck
The body of a post mill, particularly in East Anglia. See Wikipedia:Windmill machinery.
Buck
A frame on which firewood is sawed; a sawhorse; a sawbuck.
Buck
A leather-covered frame used for gymnastic vaulting.
Buck
A wood or metal frame used by automotive customizers and restorers to assist in the shaping of sheet metal bodywork.
Buck
(dated) An object of various types, placed on a table to indicate turn or status; such as a brass object, placed in rotation on a US Navy wardroom dining table to indicate which officer is to be served first, or an item passed around a poker table indicating the dealer or placed in the pot to remind the winner of some privilege or obligation when his or her turn to deal next comes.
Buck
Synonym of buck dance.
Buck
Synonym of mule
Buck
A kind of large marble in children's games.
Buck
(Scotland) The beech tree.
Buck
Lye or suds in which cloth is soaked in the operation of bleaching, or in which clothes are washed.
Buck
The cloth or clothes soaked or washed.
Buck
(intransitive) To copulate, as bucks and does.
Buck
(intransitive) To bend; buckle.
Buck
To leap upward arching its back, coming down with head low and forelegs stiff, forcefully kicking its hind legs upward, often in an attempt to dislodge or throw a rider or pack.
Buck
To throw (a rider or pack) by bucking.
Buck
To subject to a mode of punishment which consists of tying the wrists together, passing the arms over the bent knees, and putting a stick across the arms and in the angle formed by the knees.
Buck
To resist obstinately; oppose or object strongly.
The vice president bucked at the board's latest solution.
Buck
To move or operate in a sharp, jerking, or uneven manner.
The motor bucked and sputtered before dying completely.
Buck
To overcome or shed (e.g., an impediment or expectation), in pursuit of a goal; to force a way through despite (an obstacle); to resist or proceed against.
The plane bucked a strong headwind.
Our managers have to learn to buck the trend and do the right thing for their employees.
John is really bucking the odds on that risky business venture. He's doing quite well.
Buck
(riveting) To press a reinforcing device (bucking bar) against (the force of a rivet) in order to absorb vibration and increase expansion. See Wikipedia: Rivet:Installation.
Buck
(forestry) To saw a felled tree into shorter lengths, as for firewood.
Buck
(electronics) To output a voltage that is lower than the input voltage. See Wikipedia: Buck converter
Buck
To soak, steep or boil in lye or suds, as part of the bleaching process.
Buck
To wash (clothes) in lye or suds, or, in later usage, by beating them on stones in running water.
Buck
(mining) To break up or pulverize, as ores.
Buck
Lye or suds in which cloth is soaked in the operation of bleaching, or in which clothes are washed.
Buck
The cloth or clothes soaked or washed.
Buck
The male of deer, especially fallow deer and antelopes, or of goats, sheep, hares, and rabbits.
Buck
A gay, dashing young fellow; a fop; a dandy.
The leading bucks of the day.
Buck
A male Indian or negro.
Buck
A frame on which firewood is sawed; a sawhorse; a sawbuck.
Buck
The beech tree.
Buck
To soak, steep, or boil, in lye or suds; - a process in bleaching.
Buck
To wash (clothes) in lye or suds, or, in later usage, by beating them on stones in running water.
Buck
To break up or pulverize, as ores.
Buck
To copulate, as bucks and does.
Buck
To spring with quick plunging leaps, descending with the fore legs rigid and the head held as low down as possible; - said of a vicious horse or mule.
Buck
To subject to a mode of punishment which consists in tying the wrists together, passing the arms over the bent knees, and putting a stick across the arms and in the angle formed by the knees.
Buck
A gymnastic horse without pommels and with one end elongated; used lengthwise for vaulting
Buck
A piece of paper money worth one dollar
Buck
United States author whose novels drew on her experiences as a missionary in China (1892-1973)
Buck
A framework for holding wood that is being sawed
Buck
Mature male of various mammals (especially deer or antelope)
Buck
To strive with determination;
John is bucking for a promotion
Buck
Resist;
Buck the trend
Buck
Move quickly and violently;
The car tore down the street
He came charging into my office
Buck
Jump vertically, with legs stiff and back arched;
The yung filly bucked
Buck
Of the lowest rank in a category;
A buck private
Buck
Slang for a dollar.
Can you lend me a buck for the vending machine?
Buck
To jump suddenly.
The horse began to buck as soon as I mounted it.
Buck
A young man.
He's a strong young buck, ready for adventure.
Common Curiosities
Is buck a living creature?
Yes, when referring to a male deer.
What is a puck?
A puck is a disc used in ice hockey or a mischievous fairy from folklore.
Can puck refer to something in literature?
Yes, Puck is a character in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Can buck refer to money?
Yes, buck is slang for a dollar in American English.
What is a buck?
A buck is a male deer or a slang term for a dollar.
Where is a puck used?
Pucks are used in ice hockey games.
Does buck have any other meanings?
Yes, it can also mean to jump or resist.
Where can you find a buck?
Bucks are commonly found in forests and wildlife parks.
Is puck a living creature?
No, a puck in hockey is an inanimate object, but Puck in folklore is a mythical creature.
What is a puck made of?
A hockey puck is made of vulcanized rubber.
Can you see a buck in everyday life?
Yes, in regions where deer are common.
What is a buck's physical characteristic?
Bucks are male deer typically with antlers.
Is buck used in sports?
Not typically, except in hunting contexts.
Is puck used outside of sports?
Yes, in literature and folklore.
Can you see a puck in everyday life?
Mostly in ice hockey games or arenas.
Does puck have any other meanings?
Yes, it can refer to a mischievous act or a playful person.
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Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
