SHUCK
What does "SHUCK" mean?
To remove the husk or shell from corn, oysters, or other foods.
Meanings
- To strip off the husk, shell, or outer covering of a food such as corn or oysters. We sat on the porch shucking corn for dinner.
- To take off a piece of clothing quickly. He shucked his coat and dropped onto the sofa. informal
- The husk or shell removed, or, in the plural, an exclamation of mild dismay or modesty. Aw, shucks, it was nothing. informal
Did you know?
- The bashful 'aw, shucks' traces back to literal corn husks - the worthless shucks tossed aside - so the word came to mean anything trifling or no big deal.
Word origin
An Americanism of uncertain origin, recorded from the late 17th century for the husk of corn or the shell of an oyster; the exclamation 'shucks' arose in the 19th century from the worthless cast-off husks.
Remember it
SHUCK rhymes with 'pluck' - both mean stripping something off to get to the good part.
A little poem
Green sleeves torn away-
the cob's gold teeth in the sun,
summer in the hand.
haiku
Wordplay
- I told the oyster a secret and asked it to keep things under wraps. It got shucked the next day - so much for that.
What it teaches
Most of what is worth having waits under a husk you have to be willing to tear.
Quick facts
What does SHUCK mean?
To remove the husk or shell from corn, oysters, or other foods.
Is SHUCK a valid word?
Yes — SHUCK is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SHUCK?
SHUCK has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does SHUCK come from?
An Americanism of uncertain origin, recorded from the late 17th century for the husk of corn or the shell of an oyster; the exclamation 'shucks' arose in the 19th century from the worthless cast-off husks.
What can SHUCK teach us?
Most of what is worth having waits under a husk you have to be willing to tear.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.