HUSK

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does husk mean? 

• HUSK (noun)
  The noun HUSK has 2 senses:

1. material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds

2. outer membranous covering of some fruits or seeds

  Familiarity information: HUSK used as a noun is rare.

• HUSK (verb)
  The verb HUSK has 1 sense:

1. remove the husks from

  Familiarity information: HUSK used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HUSK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

chaff; husk; shuck; stalk; straw; stubble

Hypernyms ("husk" is a kind of...):

plant material; plant substance (material derived from plants)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "husk"):

bran (broken husks of the seeds of cereal grains that are separated from the flour by sifting)

Derivation:

husk (remove the husks from)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Outer membranous covering of some fruits or seeds

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("husk" is a kind of...):

case; sheath (an enveloping structure or covering enclosing an animal or plant organ or part)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "husk"):

cornhusk (the husk of an ear of corn)

hull (dry outer covering of a fruit or seed or nut)

cod; pod; seedcase (the vessel that contains the seeds of a plant (not the seeds themselves))

bract (a modified leaf or leaflike part just below and protecting an inflorescence)

Derivation:

husk (remove the husks from)

• HUSK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they husk    ... he / she / it husks   
Past simple: husked   
Past participle: husked   
-ing form: husking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remove the husks from

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

husk; shell

Context example:

husk corn

Hypernyms (to "husk" is one way to...):

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

husk (outer membranous covering of some fruits or seeds)

husk (material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds)

husking (the removal of covering)

 Context examples 

However, according to a study, the traditional method of parboiling does not remove inorganic arsenic which naturally occurs in groundwater and contaminates the husk.

(Parboiling husked rice reduces arsenic content, SciDev.Net)

And I will give the missionary my energies—it is all he wants—but not myself: that would be only adding the husk and shell to the kernel.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

These I heated before the fire, as well as I could, and rubbed them till the husks came off, which I made a shift to winnow from the grain.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

As McConkey told VOA, The husk of the fruit — it's like the outer covering of the fruit — has become very thick, and it's that outer covering that deer eat.

(Thai Elephants Help Spread Jungle Fruit's Seeds, Sadie Witkowski/VOA)

Previous attempts at making filters out of materials such as groundnut shell, mango leaf, rice husk and sugarcane bagasse, met with limited success.

(Watermelon rind a cheap filter for arsenic in groundwater, SciDev.Net)

Husked whole grain parboiling lets inorganic arsenic escape, the researchers explained.

(Parboiling husked rice reduces arsenic content, SciDev.Net)

On the other hand, when parboiling unhusked rice, the high levels of arsenic in the husk can get transferred to the grain during the parboiling process.

(Parboiling husked rice reduces arsenic content, SciDev.Net)

Parboiling rice in-the-husk is the traditional method by which rough rice is soaked in water and then partially cooked to nutritionally improve it and make it easier to process or store.

(Parboiling husked rice reduces arsenic content, SciDev.Net)

But an international study has shown that husking rice before parboiling reduces arsenic content, potentially lowering the risk of cancer.

(Parboiling husked rice reduces arsenic content, SciDev.Net)

Parboiling husked whole grain, on the other hand, not only reduces arsenic by 25 per cent, but also increases its calcium content significantly, according to the researchers from Bangladesh and Northern Ireland.

(Parboiling husked rice reduces arsenic content, SciDev.Net)