busk /bʌsk/verb 5noun 3forms 3 verb5 •To solicit money by entertaining the public in the street or in public transport. •(Scotland, Northern-England) To prepare; to make ready; to array; to dress.Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny, bonny bride. — 1724 •(Scotland, Northern-England) To go; to direct one's course.Ye might have busked you to Huntly-banks. — 1550 •To tack, cruise about. •(no longer used) To sell articles such as obscene books in public houses etc.The frothy orator, who busked his tales In quackish pomp of noisy words — 1827 noun3 •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 •A corset.Off with that happy busk, which I envie, / That still can be, and still can stand so nigh. — 1661 •(no longer used) A kind of linen.Busk, a kind of table linen, occurs first in 1458, and occasionally afterwards. — 1882 formsbusked · busking · busks
