husk

[ huhsk ]
See synonyms for husk on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the dry external covering of certain fruits or seeds, especially of an ear of corn.

  2. the enveloping or outer part of anything, especially when dry or worthless.

verb (used with object)
  1. to remove the husk from.

Origin of husk

1
1350–1400; Middle English huske, equivalent to hus- (akin to Old English hosu pod, husk) + -ke, weak variant of -ock

Other words from husk

  • husker, noun
  • husklike, adjective
  • un·husked, adjective

Words Nearby husk

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use husk in a sentence

  • Still, the exposed skin on my face and hands felt drawn and hot, stinging, a fire of whiteness, a burning Caucasian husk.

  • The crab begins by tearing the husk, fiber by fiber, and always from that end under which the three eye-holes are situated.

  • Dumas states that the husk of oats sometimes yields as much as five or six per cent.

    Domestic Animals | Richard L. Allen
  • The house, the bit of the world it gave upon, seemed a part of her life, the containing husk of all the fruitage born to her.

    Country Neighbors | Alice Brown
  • He broke off the branch, and with the sharp point he soon had torn a hole in the outer husk of the cocoanut.

    Mappo, the Merry Monkey | Richard Barnum
  • The dried husk of the maiz is taken and cut into pieces of the required size.

    Mexico | Charles Reginald Enock

British Dictionary definitions for husk (1 of 2)

husk1

/ (hʌsk) /


noun
  1. the external green or membranous covering of certain fruits and seeds

  2. any worthless outer covering

verb
  1. (tr) to remove the husk from

Origin of husk

1
C14: probably based on Middle Dutch huusken little house, from hūs house; related to Old English hosu husk, hūs house

Derived forms of husk

  • husker, noun
  • husklike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for husk (2 of 2)

husk2

noun
  1. bronchitis in cattle, sheep, and goats, usually caused by lungworm infestation

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012