Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Husk

Husk

(hŭsk)
,
Noun.
[Prob. for
hulsk
, and from the same root as
hull
a husk. See
Hull
a husk.]
1.
The external covering or envelope of certain fruits or seeds; glume; hull; rind; in the United States, especially applied to the covering of the ears of maize.
2.
The supporting frame of a run of millstones.
Husks of the prodigal son
(Bot.)
,
the pods of the carob tree. See
Carob
.

Husk

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Husked
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Husking
.]
To strip off the external covering or envelope of;
as, to
husk
Indian corn
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Husk

HUSK

,
Noun.
The external covering of certain fruits or seeds of plants. It is the calyx of the flower or glume of corn and grasses, formed of valves embracing the seed. The husks of the small grains, when separated, are called chaff; but in America we apply the word chiefly to the covering of the ears or seeds of maiz, which is never denominated chaff. It is sometimes used in England for the rind, skin or hull of seeds.

HUSK

,
Verb.
T.
To strip off the external integument or covering of the fruits or seeds of plants; as, to husk maiz.

Definition 2024

husk

husk

English

Noun

husk ‎(plural husks)

  1. 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.
  2. Any form of useless, dried-up, and subsequently worthless exterior of something
    His attorney was a dried-up husk of a man.
  3. The supporting frame of a run of millstones.
Translations

Verb

husk ‎(third-person singular simple present husks, present participle husking, simple past and past participle husked)

  1. (transitive) To remove husks from.
Translations

Etymology 2

Partly imitative, partly from Etymology 1, above, influenced by husky.

Noun

husk ‎(uncountable)

  1. 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.

Verb

husk ‎(third-person singular simple present husks, present participle husking, simple past and past participle husked)

  1. (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.
  2. (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.

See also

References

The Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary, 2nd Ed., Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1978

Danish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /husk/, [husɡ̊]

Verb

husk

  1. imperative of huske (remember)

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

husk

  1. imperative of huske

Etymology

From Middle English huske ‎(“husk”), from Old English *husuc, *hosuc ‎(“little covering, sheath”), diminutive of hosu ‎(“pod, shell, husk”), from Proto-Germanic *husōn, *hausaz ‎(“covering, shell, leggings”), from Proto-Indo-European *kawəs- / kawes- ‎(“cover”). More at hose, -ock.

Alternate etymology derives husk from Low German hūske ‎(“little house, sheath”) (cognate with Middle Dutch huskjin > Dutch huisken, diminutive of hūs ‎(“house”).)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /hʌsk/

Similar Results