busk

/bʌsk/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/bʊsk/

busk verb: to solicit money by entertaining the public in the street or in public transport.

Verb (1)

busk (third-person singular simple present busks, present participle busking, simple past and past participle busked)

(UK, especially, intransitive) To solicit money by entertaining the public in the street or in public transport.
(obsolete, transitive) To sell articles such as obscene books in public houses etc.
- The frothy orator, who busked his tales
  In quackish pomp of noisy words1827, Robert Pollok, The Course of Time
To tack, cruise about.

Noun (1)

busk (plural busks)

A strip of metal, whalebone, wood, or other material, worn in the front of a corset to stiffen it.
- Her long slit sleeves, stiffe buske, puffe verdingall, / Is all that makes her thus angelicall.1598, John Marston, The Scourge of Villanie
- Could see her in the bedroom from the hearth unclamping the busk of her stays.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 8: Laestrygonians]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 149
(broadly) A corset.
- Off with that happy busk, which I envie, / That still can be, and still can stand so nigh.1661, John Donne, To his Mistress going to Bed

Noun (2)

busk

(obsolete) A kind of linen.
- Busk, a kind of table linen, occurs first in 1458, and occasionally afterwards.1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 557

Verb (2)

busk (third-person singular simple present busks, present participle busking, simple past and past participle busked)

(Northern England, Scotland, transitive) To prepare; to make ready; to array; to dress.
- Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny, bonny bride.c. 1724, William Hamilton, The Braes of Yarrow 2
- The watch stert up and drew their weapons bright / And busk'd them bold to battle and to fight.1600, [Torquato Tasso], “(please specify |book=1 to 20)”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield...
(Northern England, Scotland) To go; to direct one's course.
- Ye might have busked you to Huntly-banks.c. 1550, John Skelton, Skelton Laureate against the Scottes

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Busk

Busk

A feast of first fruits among the Creek tribe of Native Americans, celebrated when the corn is ripe enough to be eaten.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Busk

Busk (plural Busks)

A surname.

Proper noun (3) capitalized: Busk

Busk

A city in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine.

busk meaning in Urdu

busk in Urdu

آمادہ ہونا, لباہ پہننا

Forms of busk

Verb
third-person singular present	busks
present participle	busking
past participle	busked
past	busked
Noun
plural	busks
Proper noun
plural	Busks

Past tense of busk: busked

Origin of busk

Apparently from French busquer or Spanish buscar.

Borrowed from French busc, from Italian busco (“splinter”).

Etymology unknown.

Words formed from busk

Phrases with busk

Bell Busk

Words that rhyme with busk

Questions about busk

What does busk mean?: Busk means to solicit money by entertaining the public in the street or in public transport.
What is busk in Urdu?: Busk in Urdu is آمادہ ہونا, لباہ پہننا. See Busk meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is busk?: Busk can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce busk?: Busk is pronounced /bʌsk/ (UK).
What is the past tense of busk?: The past tense of busk is busked.

Words near busk in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: busk (page history and authors); Busk (page history and authors); busk (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-busk.wav.

Cite this entry: “busk.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/busk. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.