unbusk

U1N1B3U1S1K5

verb

To remove a busk (corset, or its stiffening strip) from.

“Unbusk, unbusk me, tire-maids, / Now it hath come to lie. / Comb down my locks in simple braids, / A simple maid am I.”

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Meanings

verbunbusk (third-person singular simple present unbusks, present participle unbusking, simple past and past participle unbusked)

present singular third person unbusks · participle present unbusking · participle past unbusked · past unbusked

  1. raretransitiveTo remove a busk (corset, or its stiffening strip) from.

    Unbusk, unbusk me, tire-maids, / Now it hath come to lie. / Comb down my locks in simple braids, / A simple maid am I.

    1 more example

    She told us later that she thought of things like loosening laces and unbusking corsets but though they all sounded splendid in theory, in practice there seemed to be all sorts of snags.

    2011, Evelyn Prentis, A Nurse in Time, page 304

Origin

un- + busk

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

unbusk. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unbusk

MLA

“unbusk.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unbusk. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unbusk,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unbusk.

Source: unbusk on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.