shuck
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See also: Shuck
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Origin 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).
Alternative forms
Noun
shuck (plural shucks)
- The shell or husk, especially of grains (e.g. corn/maize) or nuts (e.g. walnuts).
- 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, published 1985, page 46:
- There was no linen, no pillow, and when she touched the mattress it gave forth the faint dry whisper of shucks.
- (slang, African-American Vernacular) A fraud; a scam.
- (slang) A phony.
Derived terms
Verb
shuck (third-person singular simple present shucks, present participle shucking, simple past and past participle shucked)
- (transitive) To remove the shuck from (walnuts, oysters, etc.).
- Shall we shuck walnuts?
- (transitive) To remove (any outer covering).
- I will shuck my clothes and dive naked into the pool.
- 1941 April, “Notes and News: The Reason Why”, in Railway Magazine, page 182:
- [...] 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."
- (computing, slang, transitive) To remove (an external hard drive or solid-state drive) from its casing so that it can be used inside another device.
- (transitive, intransitive, slang) To fool; to hoax.
Derived terms
Translations
to extract shellfish from shells
to fool; to hoax
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Etymology 2
From a dialectal variant of shock.
Verb
shuck (third-person singular simple present shucks, present participle shucking, simple past and past participle shucked)
- (dialectal) To shake; shiver.
- (dialectal) To slither or slip, move about, wriggle.
- (dialectal) To do hurriedly or in a restless way.
- (dialectal) To avoid; baffle, outwit, shirk.
- (dialectal, of a horse) To walk at a slow trot.
Derived terms
Etymology 3
Noun
shuck (plural shucks)
- (European folklore) A supernatural and generally malevolent black dog in English folklore.
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “shuck”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “shuck”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “shuck off”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.