cusk

American  

[kuhsk] / kʌsk /

noun

plural

cusks,

plural

cusk

1. an edible marine fish, Brosme brosme, of North Atlantic coastal waters.

2. the burbot.

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cusk British  

/ kʌsk /

noun

1. a gadoid food fish, Brosmius brosme, of northern coastal waters, having a single long dorsal fin aslo called torsk

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Etymology

Origin of cusk

An Americanism dating back to 1610–20; probably a variant of tusk, a kind of fish, from Scandinavian; compare Norwegian tosk, variant of torsk, cognate with Old Norse thorskr “cod, codfish”

Example Sentences

Usually found in deep water, the adult gargoyle cusk eel is extremely rare and represents the only member of its genus.

From Scientific American • Jun. 8, 2022

Mike and I groan, thinking back on all the time and energy we’ve wasted chipping out iced-over cusk lines with crowbars.

From New York Times • Mar. 4, 2020

The work on cod is finished, data on haddock is being analyzed and the work on cusk will continue until 2017, Mandelman said.

From Washington Times • Dec. 21, 2015

The cusk eel holds its position at the bait and waits for the odour of dead fish to attract crustaceans called amphipods.

From BBC • Jul. 16, 2014

This is a good fishing ground for cod, haddock, cusk, and pollock in the spring, while on the muddy edges hake are abundant in September.

From Fishing Grounds of the Gulf of Maine by Rich, Walter H.