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busk

verb, noun — 8 senses

busk

verb

US, UK /bʌsk/ · Northern-England /bʊsk/

Etymology Apparently from French busquer or Spanish buscar.

1

UK, Especially To solicit money by entertaining the public in the street or in public transport.

2

Obsolete To sell articles such as obscene books in public houses etc.

  • The frothy orator, who busked his tales In quackish pomp of noisy words1827, Robert Pollok, The Course of Time:
3

Nautical, Transport To tack, cruise about.

Derived terms
busker, busk it

busk

noun

Etymology Borrowed from French busc, from Italian busco (“splinter”).

1

A strip of metal, whalebone, wood, or other material, worn in the front of a corset to stiffen it.

  • Her long slit sleeves, stiffe buske, puffe verdingall, / Is all that makes her thus angelicall.1598, John Marston, The Scourge of Villanie:
2

Broadly A corset.

  • Off with that happy busk, which I envie, / That still can be, and still can stand so nigh.1661, John Donne, To his Mistress going to Bed:
Derived terms
busked, unbusk

busk

noun

Etymology Etymology unknown.

1

Obsolete A kind of linen.

  • Busk, a kind of table linen, occurs first in 1458, and occasionally afterwards.1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 557:

busk

verb

Etymology From Middle English busken, from Old Norse búask, reflexive of búa (“to prepare”); compare bound for a derivation from búa's past participle and basken for a similar formation from an Old Norse reflexive.

1

Northern England, Scotland To prepare; to make ready; to array; to dress.

  • Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny, bonny bride.c. 1724, William Hamilton, The Braes of Yarrow 2:
  • The watch stert up and drew their weapons bright / And busk'd them bold to battle and to fight.1600, [Torquato Tasso], “(please specify |book=1 to 20)”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC:
2

Northern England, Scotland To go; to direct one's course.

  • Ye might have busked you to Huntly-banks.c. 1550, John Skelton, Skelton Laureate against the Scottes:
Derived terms
busking, buskle

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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