shuck

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to remove the husk, pod, or shell from food such as corn, nuts, or oysters

   We sat on the porch to shuck the corn before dinner.

2. 2
   noun

   the husk, pod, or shell removed from grain, nuts, or shellfish

   Each oyster shuck was tossed into a bucket beside the table.

3. 3
   intj

   shucks: used informally to express mild disappointment, embarrassment, or disbelief

   Shucks, I was hoping the store would still be open.

4. 4
   noun

   shucks, informal: anything of little worth or importance

   That broken tool is not worth shucks now.

The origin is uncertain, perhaps from a dialectal descendant or diminutive of an older word for a shell or husk. The interjection shucks and the phrase not worth shucks developed from the notion of discarded husks as things of little value.

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