lusk

From Middle English *lusk, from Old Norse lǫskr (“weak, idle”), from Proto-Germanic *laskwaz (“sluggish, dull, lazy”), from Proto-Indo-European *lēyd- (“to let, subside”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lasch (“flabby, loose”), Middle Low German lasch, las (“tired, dull”). Doublet of lush.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /lʌsk/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /lʊsk/
• Rhymes: -ʌsk

lusk (comparative more lusk, superlative most lusk)

1. lazy or slothful
2. (UK, dialectal) full; ripe

lusk (plural lusks)

1. a lazy or slothful person
   • 1577, Timothy Kendall, Flowers of Epigrams:

     But whom he sees to labor prest,
     theim lets he still alone:
     He labor lothes, and loues the luske,
     to ease and pleasure prone

lusk (third-person singular simple present lusks, present participle lusking, simple past and past participle lusked)

1. (obsolete) To be idle or unemployed.

• sulk, Klus

Inherited from Old Czech lusk, from Proto-Slavic *luskъ.

• IPA^(key): [ˈlusk]
• Hyphenation: lusk

lusk m inan

1. pod (of a leguminous plant)

• “lusk”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “lusk”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

lusk

1. sneaky acts; covert operations
   • 2017, Knud H. Thomsen, Borgmesteren i Monteporco, Gyldendal A/S, →ISBN:

     Allerede da jeg førte mit regiment i Abessinien og indtog byen Sokota, mærkede jeg, at der var noget lusk. Ikke et menneske at se! Aha, tænkte jeg, snigskytter på tagene, dynamit i kældrene, masser af bevæbnede sorte bag næste hjørne.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2016, Inge Fischer Sørensen, Det sku' være så godt!, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:

     »Der er lusk i foretagendet!« Rie kneb det ene øje i og troede, at hun så fiffig ud. »Det lugter langt væk af lusk.«

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2016, Anders Westenholz, Tale er guld: Mere om over- og undertoner i den daglige samtale, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:

     En tilhører kan få mistanke om, at der er lusk i foretagendet – og mistanken forstærkes, når Brian – helt atypisk – klart giver til kende, at han har lektier for.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Indeclinable.

• luske
• luskebuks
• lusket

• losse (Early Middle English, Northern)

From Old English lox, from Proto-West Germanic *luhs.

• IPA^(key): /lusk/

lusk

1. (hapax legomenon) lynx

• luskwerk

• English: los

• “lusk-werk, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *luskъ.

• IPA^(key): /lúːsk/

lȗsk m inan

1. (botany) silique

• lušček

• “lusk”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025