shuck

See also: Shuck

English

Etymology

Origin unknown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃʌk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌk

Noun

shuck (plural shucks)

1. The shell or husk, especially of grains (e.g. corn/maize) or nuts (e.g. walnuts).
   • 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, 1985, p.46:

     There was no linen, no pillow, and when she touched the mattress it gave forth the faint dry whisper of shucks.

2. (slang, African-American Vernacular) A fraud; a scam.
3. (slang) A phony.

Verb

shuck (third-person singular simple present shucks, present participle shucking, simple past and past participle shucked)

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.

3. (transitive, intransitive, slang) To fool; to hoax.

Derived terms

• shuck and jive

Translations

to extract shellfish from shells

• French: décortiquer (fr), écailler (fr), écosser (fr)
• Galician: escochar, esconchar
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: pāoraora, tiora, kōwhā
• Russian: очищать (ru) impf (očiščatʹ)

to remove

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

to fool; to hoax

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “shuck”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• Hucks, hucks