husk

Etymology 1

From Middle English huske (“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, *hausaz (“covering, shell, leggings”), from Proto-Indo-European *kawəs- / kawes- (“cover”). If so, equivalent to hose + -ock. Alternatively from Middle Low German hūske(n) (“little house, sheath”), Middle Dutch hūskijn (“little house, core of fruit, case”), diminutive of hūs (“house”). Compare Dutch huisje, German Häuschen, both also used for “snailshell”.

noun

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.
   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. 1991, Morgan Kerr, Norman Kerr, An Introduction to Cat Care, page 63
3. The supporting frame of a run of millstones.

verb

1. (transitive) To remove husks from.

Etymology 2

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

noun

1. An infection in cattle caused by a species of Dictyocaulus or lungworm
   The symptoms of Husk are a constant cough, rapid loss of flesh, difficulty in breathing and, in the later stages, loss of appetite and diarrhœa. 1876, John Walker, How to Farm with Profit Arable and Pasture Land: A Practical Manual on Modern Agriculture, London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co, page 78

verb

1. (intransitive) To cough, clear one's throat.
   Back on the veranda he said to Lace gravely, "I do believe that poor child's in the family way." Lace, tracing the pattern of the matting with his boot, husked, and murmured, "Yes — I think so. 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XI, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 181
2. (transitive) To say huskily, to utter in a husky voice.
   The French captain did not immediately respond; he looked at his men with a miserable expression …; still he hesitated, drooped, and finally husked, "Je me rends," with a look still more wretched. 2006, Naomi Novik, His Majesty's Dragon, Del Rey Books, page 5