husk

[ huhsk ]

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.

husk

¹

noun

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

husk

²

/ 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

Derived Forms

• ˈhuskˌlike, adjective
• ˈhusker, noun

Other Words From

• husker noun
• husklike adjective
• un·husked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of husk¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of husk¹

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

Example Sentences

The adventurers’ tent had been sliced open from the inside, and in its husk lay rucksacks, neatly arranged boots, and a plate of sliced pork fat.

From Ars Technica

Lard-rich tamales are a pandemic-ready project, well worth the time it takes to swaddle dough into corn husk wrappers.

From Washington Post

Then from there, they get trucked to the huller, which removes the green husk off of the nuts that still have it on—30 or 40% of them—and cleans them and washes them.

From MIT Technology Review

There’s a husk that peels off, revealing a nut shell underneath.

From Popular-Science

Remove the garlic cloves from the pot, squeeze them out of their husks and spread the garlic puree on toasted baguette.

From Popular-Science

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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.

From Project Gutenberg

He broke off the branch, and with the sharp point he soon had torn a hole in the outer husk of the cocoanut.

From Project Gutenberg

The dried husk of the maiz is taken and cut into pieces of the required size.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• chaff
• pod
• rind