husk

[ huhsk ]

See synonyms for husk on Thesaurus.com

noun

the dry external covering of certain fruits or seeds, especially of an ear of corn.
the enveloping or outer part of anything, especially when dry or worthless.

verb (used with object)

to remove the husk from.

Origin of husk

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

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

How to use husk in a sentence

Husks of homes, some of them choked in jungular vines, furnish a tropical Pompeii for viewers on the disaster bus tours.
Eight Years After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Has Been Resurrected | Jason Berry | August 29, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
It was explicitly seen as a means to reduce women and men of courage to useless husks when they finally reemerged.
Burmese Political Prisoners Speak Out In 'Into The Current' Documentary | Peter Popham | March 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Note: This is just not the same made with supermarket, dried out, bleached-out husks.
Pumpkin Seed Brittle | The Daily Beast | November 25, 2008 | THE DAILY BEAST
Then they heaped the hot ashes in a mound and buried therein potatoes and corn with the thick green husks left on it.
The Rival Campers | Ruel Perley Smith
I have taken only the husks of life and discarded the kernels.
Patchwork | Anna Balmer Myers

By this time the husks will have begun to decompose and darken the kernels.
Northern Nut Growers Association Thirty-Fourth Annual Report 1943 | Various
"Come out, old fellow," he called, and he heard the dog's tail thrashing the corn husks.
An Arkansas Planter | Opie Percival Read
Mote consists of ripe maize first boiled and then laid in hot ashes, after which the husks are easily stripped off.
Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests | J. J. von Tschudi

British Dictionary definitions for husk (1 of 2)

husk¹

/ (hʌsk) /

noun

the external green or membranous covering of certain fruits and seeds
any worthless outer covering

verb

(tr) to remove the husk from

Origin of husk

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

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

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