shuck1
- a husk or pod, as the outer covering of corn, hickory nuts, chestnuts, etc.
- Usually shucks. Informal. something useless or worthless: They don't care shucks about the project.
- the shell of an oyster or clam.
- shucks, Informal. (used as a mild exclamation of disgust or regret.)
Origin of shuck1
shuck2
- to deceive or lie to.
Origin of shuck2
Examples from the Web for shuck
Contemporary Examples
Why is it so hard to shuck this notion that governments should cut spending and/or raise taxes in times of economic slack?
Shuck went on to become a drill sergeant and Gabe was assigned to a new handler.
Back Home, Service Dogs Sleep in Beds—and Sniff the Sofa for MinesSandra McElwaine
September 23, 2012
Ultimately, Gabe was allowed to retire and was adopted by Shuck.
Back Home, Service Dogs Sleep in Beds—and Sniff the Sofa for MinesSandra McElwaine
September 23, 2012
Historical Examples
Now light a shuck back to Mobeetie an' write a report on it.
Oh, You Tex!William Macleod Raine
“Yessir,” said Chief Multhaus, as he began to shuck his suit.
Unwise ChildGordon Randall Garrett
He looked at Norie, moaning on the shuck tick bed, then at Jake.
Blue Ridge CountryJean Thomas
After the shuck has been removed the double nut is found, black as ebony.
Seven Legs Across the SeasSamuel Murray
For smoking purposes it is also open to the same criticisms that a shuck mattress is.
Europe RevisedIrvin S. Cobb
shuck
- the outer covering of something, such as the husk of a grain of maize, a pea pod, or an oyster shell
- to remove the shucks from
- informal, mainly US and Canadian to throw off or remove (clothes, etc)
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for shuck
v.
"to remove the shucks from," 1819, from or related to shuck (n.). Related: Shucked; shucking.
Many extended senses are from the notion of "stripping" an ear of corn, or from the capers associated with husking frolics; e.g. "to strip (off) one's clothes" (1848) and "to deceive, swindle, cheat, fool" (1959); phrase shucking and jiving "fooling, deceiving" is suggested from 1966, in U.S. black English, but cf. shuck (v.) a slang term among "cool musicians" for "to improvise chords, especially to a piece of music one does not know" (1957), and shuck (n.) "a theft or fraud," in use by 1950s among U.S. blacks.
[B]lack senses probably fr[om] the fact that black slaves sang and shouted gleefully during corn-shucking season, and this behavior, along with lying and teasing, became a part of the protective and evasive behavior normally adopted towards white people in "traditional" race relations; the sense of "swindle" is perhaps related to the mid-1800s term to be shucked out, "be defeated, be denied victory," which suggests that the notion of stripping someone as an ear of corn is stripped may be basic in the semantics. ["Dictionary of American Slang"]
n.
"husk, pod, shell," 1670s, of unknown origin. Cf. shuck (v.). Later used in reference to the shells of oysters and clams (1872). Figurative as a type of something worthless from 1836.