shuck

Etymology 1

Origin unknown. Possibly a dialectal survival of unrecorded Middle English *schulk(e), *schullok, 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”), making it equivalent to shell + -ock (diminutive suffix).

noun

1. The shell or husk, especially of grains (e.g. corn/maize) or nuts (e.g. walnuts).
   There was no linen, no pillow, and when she touched the mattress it gave forth the faint dry whisper of shucks. 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, published 1985, page 46
2. (slang, African-American Vernacular) A fraud; a scam.
3. (slang) A phony.

verb

1. (transitive) To remove the shuck from (walnuts, oysters, etc.).
   Shall we shuck walnuts?
2. (transitive) To remove (any outer covering).
   I will shuck my clothes and dive naked into the pool.
   … but what had actually happened was that the wheel of one of the coaches became detached from its axle, or, in the more expressive American argot, the train "shucked off a wheel near Everett." 1941 April, “Notes and News: The Reason Why”, in Railway Magazine, page 182
3. (transitive, intransitive, slang) To fool; to hoax.

Etymology 2

From a dialectal variant of shock.

verb

1. (dialectal) To shake; shiver.
2. (dialectal) To slither or slip, move about, wriggle.
3. (dialectal) To do hurriedly or in a restless way.
4. (dialectal) To avoid; baffle, outwit, shirk.
5. (dialectal, of a horse) To walk at a slow trot.

Etymology 3

noun

1. (European folklore) A supernatural and generally malevolent black dog in English folklore.