shuck
The shell or husk, especially of grains or nutsThe shell or husk, especially of grains (e.g. corn/maize) or nuts (e.g. walnuts).
» Have you ever shucked an oyster?
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
4 sensesThe shell or husk, especially of grains (e.g. corn/maize) or nuts (e.g. walnuts).
(slang)A fraud; a scam.
(slang)A phony.
(European)A supernatural and generally malevolent black dog in English folklore.
- material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds
Examples
11 sentencesHave you ever shucked an oyster?
Tom's mother asked him to shuck the corn.
We shucked the corn before cooking.
Tom was invited to the corn shucking.
The fish market will shuck the oysters for you.
Origin
Origin unknown. Possibly a dialectal survival of unrecorded Middle English *schulk(e), *scOrigin unknown. Possibly a dialectal survival of unrecorded Middle English *schulk(e), *schullok (“small shell”); either from Old English *sċylluc, *sċylloc, diminutive of Old English sċyll (“shell”), or alternatively created in Middle English from Middle English schulle, schelle (“shell, husk, pod”) + -ok, making it equivalent to shell + -ock (diminutive suffix) or shell + -k (diminutive suffix).
Possibly from Middle English shucke, schucke (“demon, monster”), from Old English sċucca (“an evil spirit”).
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