▪ I. bisk, n.
(bɪsk)
Forms: 7 biske, 8–9 bisque, bisk.
[a. F. bisque crayfish soup.]
a. A rich soup made by boiling down birds, etc. b. spec. Crayfish soup.
| 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal 267 Beccafico..one of the greatest rarities they [the Italians] can put into a bisk or ollio. 1715 Pancirollus' Rerum Mem. I. iv. x. 181 A Bisk of all sorts of Fish. 1731 Bailey, Bisk, Bisque [in Cookery], a rich kind of pottage, made of Quails, Capons, fat Pullets, and more especially of pigeons roasted. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece i. ii. 138 To make a Bisque of Pidgeons. 1882 Mrs. H. Reeve Cookery xiii. 90 Bisque or Crayfish Soup. |
▪ II. † bisk, v. Obs.
[No etymology known: perhaps an error of Calamy's, followed by Southey.]
| a 1732 E. Calamy Nonconf. Mem. 581 (Boucher) To be bisk'd, as I think the word is, that is to be rub'd over with an inky brush. 1847 Southey Doctor chap. extra. (D.) The chapter..has not been bisked but semiramised. |
▪ III. bisk
variant of bisque.