Word.ws English Dictionary

puka

/ˈpuːkə/

puka noun: a small, usually perforated, wave- and beach-polished shell fragment formed from the spire of a cone, found along beaches of Pacific islands, and used especially to make necklaces. Also the alternative form of pooka.

Noun (1)

puka (plural pukas)

  1. A small, usually perforated, wave- and beach-polished shell fragment formed from the spire of a cone, found along beaches of Pacific islands, and used especially to make necklaces.

Noun (2)

puka

  1. The evergreen tree Meryta sinclairii, endemic to New Zealand.
    Synonyms:
    pukanui
  2. The epiphytic plant Griselinia lucida, native to New Zealand.
    Synonyms:
    akapuka

Also used as

puka is also the alternative form of pooka.

Synonyms of puka

Forms of puka

pluralpukas

Origin of puka

Borrowed from Hawaiian puka (“hole”).

Borrowed from Irish púca (“hobgoblin”).

From Māori puka.

Words that rhyme with puka

Questions about puka

What does puka mean?
Puka means a small, usually perforated, wave- and beach-polished shell fragment formed from the spire of a cone, found along beaches of Pacific islands, and used especially to make necklaces.
What part of speech is puka?
Puka is a noun.
How do you pronounce puka?
Puka is pronounced /ˈpuːkə/.
What is the plural of puka?
The plural of puka is pukas.

Words near puka in the dictionary

  1. pujas
  2. Pujollyong
  3. PUJs
  4. Pujunan
  5. PUK
  6. puka
  7. Pukalani
  8. pukalide
  9. pukana
  10. pukanas
  11. pukanui

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: puka (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-puka.wav.

Cite this entry: “puka.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/puka. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.