busk

[ buhsk ]

/ bʌsk /

verb (used without object)

Chiefly British. to entertain by dancing, singing, or reciting on the street or in a public place.

Canadian. to make a showy or noisy appeal.

Nearby words

Origin of busk

1850–55; perhaps, if earlier sense was “to make a living by entertaining,” < Polari < Italian buscare to procure, get, gain < Spanish buscar to look for, seek (of disputed orig.)

Related formsbusk·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for busking

A younger daughter was sitting “busking her puppies” (dressing her puppets, dolls), as young girls are used to do.
Witch Stories|E. Lynn (Elizabeth Lynn) Linton
She is busking up her hair just as was gude enough for the old nuns, but no for kings and queens.'
Two Penniless Princesses|Charlotte M. Yonge
They therefore decided that the band should go out "busking" each evening during Christmas week.
From John O'Groats to Land's End|Robert Naylor and John Naylor
Yet I had stayed this busking marriage Had not my brothers pressed me to such haste And peace not waited on it.
The Mortal Gods and Other Plays|Olive Tilford Dargan

British Dictionary definitions for busking

busk

/ (bʌsk) /

noun

a strip of whalebone, wood, steel, etc, inserted into the front of a corset to stiffen it

archaic, or dialect the corset itself

Word Origin for busk

C16: from Old French busc, probably from Old Italian busco splinter, stick, of Germanic origin

busk

/ (bʌsk) /

verb

(intr) British to make money by singing, dancing, acting, etc, in public places, as in front of theatre queues

Derived Formsbusker, nounbusking, noun

Word Origin for busk

C20: perhaps from Spanish buscar to look for

busk

/ (bʌsk) /

verb (tr) Scot

to make ready; prepare

to dress or adorn

Word Origin for busk

C14: from Old Norse būask, from būa to make ready, dwell; see bower 1

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

Word Origin and History for busking

busking

1851, slang, described variously as selling articles or obscene ballads in public houses, playing music on the streets, or performing as a sort of informal stand-up comedy act in pubs, perhaps from an earlier word meaning "to cruise as a pirate" (see busker).

busk

"strip of wood, whalebone, etc., used in corset-making," 1590s, probably from French busc (16c.), from Italian bosco "splinter," of Germanic origin (see bush (n.)).

busk

"to prepare, to dress oneself," also "to go, set out," c.1300, probably from Old Norse buask "to prepare oneself," reflexive of bua "to prepare" (see bound (adj.2)) + contraction of Old Norse reflexive pronoun sik. Most common in northern Middle English and surviving chiefly in Scottish and northern English dialect. Related boun had the same senses in northern and Scottish Middle English. Related: Busked; busking.

The nautical term is attested from 1660s (in a general sense of "to tack, to beat to windward"), apparently from obsolete French busquer "to shift, filch, prowl," which is related to Italian buscare "to filch, prowl," Spanish buscar (from Old Spanish boscar), perhaps originally from bosco "wood" (see bush (n.)), with a hunting notion of "beating a wood" to flush game.