busk
- 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.
Origin of busk
Examples from the Web for busking
Historical Examples
They therefore decided that the band should go out "busking" each evening during Christmas week.
From John O'Groats to Land's EndRobert Naylor and John Naylor
She is busking up her hair just as was gude enough for the old nuns, but no for kings and queens.'
Two Penniless PrincessesCharlotte M. Yonge
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 PlaysOlive Tilford Dargan
A younger daughter was sitting “busking her puppies” (dressing her puppets, dolls), as young girls are used to do.
Witch StoriesE. Lynn (Elizabeth Lynn) Linton
busk1
- 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
busk2
- (intr) British to make money by singing, dancing, acting, etc, in public places, as in front of theatre queues
Word Origin
busk3
- to make ready; prepare
- to dress or adorn
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for busking
n.
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
n.
"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
v.
"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.