# shuck

> English word · Noun · IPA /ʃʌk/ · frequency rank #61,812

## Definitions
1. The shell or husk, especially of grains (e.g. corn/maize) or nuts (e.g. walnuts).
2. A fraud; a scam.
3. A phony.

## Etymology
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).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shuck