husk
Plural: husks
Noun
- material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds
- outer membranous covering of some fruits or seeds
- The dry, leafy or stringy exterior of certain vegetables or fruits, which must be removed before eating the meat inside.
- Any form of useless, dried up, and subsequently worthless exterior of something.
- The supporting frame of a run of millstones.
- An infection in cattle caused by a species of Dictyocaulus or lungworm
Verb
Verb Forms: husked, husking, husks
- To remove the outer covering, like from corn.
- remove the husks from
- "husk corn"
- To remove husks from.
- To cough, clear one's throat.
- To say huskily, to utter in a husky voice.
Examples
- A coconut has a very thick husk.
- He had to husk his brain for a viable word, feeling like he was peeling layers off.
- His attorney was a dried-up husk of a man.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English huske, husk (“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 (“covering, shell, leggings”), from Proto-Indo-European *kawəs- / kawes- (“cover”). If so, equivalent to hose + -ock.
Alternatively from Middle Low German hûs(e)ken, hü̂seken (“little house, sheath”), Middle Dutch husekijn (“little house, core of fruit, case”), diminutive of hûs (“house”). Compare Dutch huisje, German Häuschen, both also used for “snailshell”.
Scrabble Score: 11
husk: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordhusk: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
husk: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary