pato

American  

[pah-toh, pah-taw] / ˈpɑ toʊ, ˈpɑ tɔ /

noun

1. an Argentine game played by two teams of four on horseback, resembling a cross between polo and basketball, using a ball with six large leather handles, the object of which is to place or throw the ball through the opponent's net that hangs from a 9 feet (2.7 meters) high pole.

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Etymology

Origin of pato

From Latin American Spanish (Argentina); Spanish: “duck” (of obscure origin; perhaps originally a nursery word, akin to pata “leg, foot of an animal”); cf. paw ¹); the game was allegedly first played with a duck in a skin or leather bag

Example Sentences

Bring on the marcona almonds and pato negro ham!

From New York Times • Dec. 29, 2017

Their torta de carnitas de pato perfectly captures this quaintly classy, refreshing approach.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 10, 2014

Cabrera, of course, would lose a popularity contest to Messi, but El Pato would win one with pato.

From Golf Digest • Oct. 16, 2013

El Tirindaro is a subspecies of coyote known as a patero, because he smuggles people into the United States by pushing them across the river on inner tubes while paddling like a pato, or duck.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

The game of el pato is performed by sewing a cooked duck into a piece of hide, leaving a leather point at each end for the hand to grasp.

From With the World's Great Travellers, Volume 1 by Various