husk
See also: Husk
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /hʌsk/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ʌsk
Etymology 1
From Middle English huske (“husk”). Perhaps from Old English *husuc, *hosuc (“little covering, sheath”), diminutive of hosu (“pod, shell, husk”), from Proto-West Germanic *hosā, from Proto-Germanic *husǭ, *hausaz (“covering, shell, leggings”), from Proto-Indo-European *kawəs- / kawes- (“cover”). If so, equivalent to hose + -ock.
Alternatively from Middle Low German hūske(n) (“little house, sheath”), Middle Dutch hūskijn (“little house, core of fruit, case”), diminutive of hūs (“house”). Compare Dutch huisje, German Häuschen, both also used for “snailshell”.
Noun
husk (plural husks)
- The dry, leafy or stringy exterior of certain vegetables or fruits, which must be removed before eating the meat inside.
- A coconut has a very thick husk.
- Any form of useless, dried-up, and subsequently worthless exterior of something.
- His attorney was a dried-up husk of a man.
- 1991, Morgan Kerr, Norman Kerr, An Introduction to Cat Care (page 63)
- Unlike dogs, cats have retractable claws which do not wear down when walking. Instead, cats pull the old husk of nail from their claws by raking them down some convenient piece of wood, to expose a new sharp claw underneath.
- The supporting frame of a run of millstones.
Derived terms
- cornhusk
- husk tomato
- rice husk
Translations
exterior of certain vegetables or fruits
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any worthless exterior
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb
husk (third-person singular simple present husks, present participle husking, simple past and past participle husked)
- (transitive) To remove husks from.
Translations
remove husks from
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Etymology 2
Partly imitative, partly from Etymology 1, above, influenced by husky.
Noun
husk (uncountable)
- An infection in cattle caused by a species of Dictyocaulus or lungworm
- 1876, John Walker, How to Farm with Profit Arable and Pasture Land: A Practical Manual on Modern Agriculture, London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., p. 78,
- The symptoms of Husk are a constant cough, rapid loss of flesh, difficulty in breathing and, in the later stages, loss of appetite and diarrhœa.
- 1876, John Walker, How to Farm with Profit Arable and Pasture Land: A Practical Manual on Modern Agriculture, London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., p. 78,
Verb
husk (third-person singular simple present husks, present participle husking, simple past and past participle husked)
- (intransitive) To cough, clear one's throat.
- 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1943, Chapter XI, p. 181,
- Back on the veranda he said to Lace gravely, "I do believe that poor child's in the family way." Lace, tracing the pattern of the matting with his boot, husked, and murmured, "Yes — I think so.
- 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1943, Chapter XI, p. 181,
- (transitive) To say huskily, to utter in a husky voice.
- 2006, Naomi Novik, His Majesty's Dragon, Del Rey Books, p. 5,
- The French captain did not immediately respond; he looked at his men with a miserable expression [...]; still he hesitated, drooped, and finally husked, "Je me rends," with a look still more wretched.
- 2006, Naomi Novik, His Majesty's Dragon, Del Rey Books, p. 5,
See also
- husky
References
The Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary, 2nd Ed., Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1978
Anagrams
- Huks, Kush, khus, kuhs, kush, sukh
Danish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /husk/, [husɡ̊]
Verb
husk
- imperative of huske (remember)
Middle English
Noun
husk
- Alternative form of huske
Norwegian Bokmål
Verb
husk
- imperative of huske