• IPA: /hʌsk/

From Middle English huske.

Alternatively from Middle Low German hūsken, Middle Dutch hūskijn, diminutive of hūs.

husk (plural husks)

1. 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.

2. Any form of useless, dried-up, and subsequently worthless exterior of something.

   His attorney was a dried-up husk of a man.

   • 1991, Morgan Kerr, Norman Kerr, An Introduction to Cat Care, page 63:

     Unlike dogs, cats have retractable claws which do not wear down when walking. Instead, cats pull the old husk of nail from their claws by raking them down some convenient piece of wood, to expose a new sharp claw underneath.

3. The supporting frame of a run of millstones.

• French: écale
• German: Hülse, Schote, Hülle, Schale, Getreidespelze
• Italian: riccio, buccia, scorza
• Portuguese: casca
• Russian: кожура́
• Spanish: farfolla, cáscara

• German: Hülle
• Portuguese: casca, casca
• Russian: оболо́чка
• Spanish: farfolla, cáscara

husk (husks, present participle husking; simple past and past participle husked)

1. (transitive) To remove husks from.

• Italian: sbucciare, scorticare, pelare, capare, sbaccellare, sgranare
• Russian: очищать

Partly imitative, partly from Etymology 1, above, influenced by husky.

husk (uncountable)

1. An infection in cattle caused by a species of Dictyocaulus or lungworm

husk (husks, present participle husking; simple past and past participle husked)

1. (intransitive) To cough, clear one's throat.
2. (transitive) To say huskily, to utter in a husky voice.

1. Surname.