husk.
The dry, leafy or stringy exterior of certain vegetables or fruits, which must be removed before eating the meat inside.
Meaning & usage
The dry, leafy or stringy exterior of certain vegetables or fruits, which must be removed before eating the meat inside.
A coconut has a very thick husk.
Any form of useless, dried up, and subsequently worthless exterior of something.
His attorney was a dried-up husk of a man.
The supporting frame of a run of millstones.
A group of hares.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English huske, husk (“husk”). Perhaps from Old English *husuc, *hosuc (“little covering, sheath”), diminutive of hosu (“pod, shell, husk”), from Proto-West Germanic *hosā, from Proto-Germanic *husǭ (“covering, shell, leggings”), from Proto-Indo-European *kawəs- / kawes- (“cover”). If so, equivalent to hose + -ock. Alternatively from Middle Low German hûs(e)ken, hü̂seken (“little house, sheath”), Middle Dutch husekijn (“little house, core of fruit, case”), diminutive of hûs (“house”). Compare Dutch huisje, German Häuschen, both also used for “snailshell”.
To remove husks from.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English huske, husk (“husk”). Perhaps from Old English *husuc, *hosuc (“little covering, sheath”), diminutive of hosu (“pod, shell, husk”), from Proto-West Germanic *hosā, from Proto-Germanic *husǭ (“covering, shell, leggings”), from Proto-Indo-European *kawəs- / kawes- (“cover”). If so, equivalent to hose + -ock. Alternatively from Middle Low German hûs(e)ken, hü̂seken (“little house, sheath”), Middle Dutch husekijn (“little house, core of fruit, case”), diminutive of hûs (“house”). Compare Dutch huisje, German Häuschen, both also used for “snailshell”.
An infection in cattle caused by a species of Dictyocaulus or lungworm
Where this word comes from
Partly imitative, partly from Etymology 1, above, influenced by husky.
To cough, clear one's throat.
To say huskily, to utter in a husky voice.
Where this word comes from
Partly imitative, partly from Etymology 1, above, influenced by husky.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.