[f. BUSK v.2] ‘Piratical cruising; also, used generally, for beating to windward along a coast, or cruising off and on’ (Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk.). Also fig. (see quot.).
1841. Fraser’s Mag., XXIII. 310. This practice … for which they had a technical term of reproach, viz. ‘going a-busking.’ [The practice was to pawn property not his own, shift his quarters and disappear.]
Busking, vbl. sb. and ppl. a.: see BUSK v.2 3.
