Obs. exc. Sc. and north. dial. Also 4–5 bosk, 4–7 buske, (4 busky). See also BUSS v.2 [Generally thought to be a. ON. búa-sk, refl. of búa to prepare (see BOUN ppl. a.), the refl. pron. having been agglutinated to the stem, as in bask.
(The trans., intr. and refl. constructions are all found in the earliest northern specimens of ME., so that no evidence is available for their development: the order here followed is purely provisional. But for the presumed derivation, it would be more in accordance with the history of other verbs, to start with the trans., including the refl., and take the intr. as the usual elliptical construction of the latter.)]
I. intr. 1. To prepare oneself, get ready.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11585 (Cott.). Rise vp, iosep, and busk [Gött. busk þe] and ga.
c. 1340. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 509. Bryddez busken to bylde.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, VIII. 409. The king buskit and maid him ȝar.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 2568. I bid þat ye buske, and no bode make.
c. 1440. York Myst., xxx. 87. Nowe wiffe, þan ye blythely be buskand.
b. spec. To attire or deck oneself; to dress.
1795. H. MacNeill, Will & Jean, Poems (1844), 72. Jean … loo’d to busk aye In her hame-spun thrifty work.
1875. in Lanc. Gloss. (E. D. S.), 62. Come busk up, an’ let’s be off.
c. transf. To essay, attempt.
c. 1340. Alex. & Dind., 135. Whan þer buskede a burn a bow for to touche.
2. To set out, go (chiefly with notion of speed); to hie, hurry, haste.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4309. Quen þou seis him busk to þe, þou do þe stallworthli to flei.
c. 1350. Leg. Cathol., Pope Greg., 12. Thai bosked to the biriing.
a. 1375. Joseph Arim., 202. Þe kyng … to his bed buskes.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, X. 404. Ane of the vachis … buskit thiddirward but baid.
c. 1440. Gaw. & Gol., i. 24 (Jam.). He maid his offering; Syne buskit hame the samyne way.
1583. Stanyhurst, Æneis, IV. (Arb.), 102. Flee my sun, and busk on.
1876. Robinson, Mid. Yorksh. Gloss. (E. D. S.), ‘Now, come busk’ be off!
3. To busk up: to get up, rise.
c. 1340. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1128. Þay busken vp bilyue, blonkkez to sadel.
a. 1360. Know Thyself, in E. E. P. (1862), 133. Þe morwe he buskeþ vp to rise.
II. trans.
4. To prepare, make, or get ready; to set in order, fit out. Still in Sc. (Sometimes with up.)
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11710. Apon þe morn þai ware busked to þair wai.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. P., C. 437. Þer he busked hym a bour.
c. 1450. Erle of Tolous, 232. [We] were buskyd yare, On owre jurney for to fare.
1460. Lybeaus Disc., 822. Buske her and make her boun.
1663. Spalding, Troub. Chas. I. (1792), I. 108 (Jam.). The covenanters … busked the yard dykes very commodiously.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, v. It were hard to deny thee time to busk thy body-clothes.
1839. Blackw. Mag., XLV. 179. Heaven help us … if the good lady’s specs are not ‘busked’ and ready in the case!
5. To dress, attire, accoutre, adorn, dress up; = ‘to dress’ in its widest sense. Still in Sc.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. P., B. 142. Þou burne for no brydale art busked in wedez!
a. 1440. Sire Degrev., 1427. Hyt was buskyd above With besauntus ful bryȝth.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 390. King Bredus buskit in armour brycht.
1663. Spalding, Troub. Chas. I. (1829), 7. The lady Frendraught … busked in a white plaid … came weeping and mourning to the Bog.
1787. Burns, Burlesq. Lament, ii. But now they’ll busk her like a fright.
1800–24. Campbell, Cora Linn, iii. Hedges, busk’d in bravery, Look’d rich that sunny morn.
b. spec. To dress a fishing-hook.
1814. Scott, Wav., I. ix. 123. He has done nothing … unless trimming the laird’s fishing-wand or busking his flies.
1819. Blackw. Mag., V. 124. His daughter … we have sometimes seen ‘busking hooks.’
1823. Scott, Quentin D., xii. I … use not to gulp the angler’s hook because it is busked up with a feather called honour.
c. fig.
1656. Trapp, Comm. Rev. xvii. 3. His head only before was busked with the blasphemy … now his whole body.
1827. Pollok, Course of Time, VI. The frothy orator, who busked his tales In quackish pomp of noisy words.
6. To dispatch, hurry, hasten.
1413. Lydg., Pylgr. Sowle, I. xxii. (1859), 25. Deth spareth no persone … but buskyth you vnto pyttes brynke.
1877. Peacock, N. W. Linc. Gloss. (E. D. S.), Busk, to hasten, to hurry forward. ‘Noo busk thee sen off, an’ doant stan gawmin’ there for a week.’ ‘I liv’d sarvant wi’ her for a bit, but she buskt me aboot while I couldn’t bide it.’
III. refl.
7. To prepare or equip (oneself), get ready; now esp. Sc. to dress, clothe or deck (oneself).
a. 1300. Cursor M., 10556. Anna busked hir and yede.
c. 1325. Pol. Songs, 239. Hue bosketh huem with botouns, Ase hit were a brude.
c. 1440. Bone Flor., 276. My lord will buske hym to ryde.
1515. Scott. Field, 83, in Chetham Misc. (1856), II. He bid buske and bowne him, to go on his message.
1600. Fairfax, Tasso, VII. xxxvii. 124. The noble Baron … buskt him boldly to the dreadfull fight.
1863. Baring-Gould, Iceland, 125. Grettir busked himself for a cold ride.
8. To betake oneself; to hie one.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 2477. Þei busked hem homward.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. IX. 133. Buske ȝow to þat bote and bideth ȝe þer-inne.
1558. Phaër, Æneid, IV. K j, marg. note. Mercury busketh him forward.
1571. Campion, Hist. Irel., ix. (1633), 27. Gathelus and his wife … were faine to buske them, with all their traine into Europe.
1877. [see 6].
