Also locally tursk, tosk, tusk. [a. Norw. torsk, tosk, Sw., Da. torsk:—ON. þorskr, þoskr; prob. f. root of ON. þurr, Sw. torr, Gothic þaurs-us dry. Cf. LG. (and Ger.) dorsch.] A gadoid fish, Brosmius brosme, abundant in the northern seas, especially about the Shetland Islands, and much used for food in the dried form of stockfish. Also attrib.
1707. Miége, St. Gt. Brit., ii. 14. They have abundance of Fish on that Coast call’d Tusk, as big as Ling.
1776. Pennant, Zool., III. 179. The Torsk, or as it is called in the Shetlands, Tusk and Brismak is a northern fish; and as yet undiscovered lower than about the Orknies.
1822. Scott, Pirate, xxii. There is torsk for the gentle, and skate for the carle, And there’s wealth for bold Magnus, the son of the earl.
1837. M. Donovan, Dom. Econ., II. 179. The Torsk is not so slender as the ling, and is altogether a smaller fish. As food it is considered more delicate than ling.
1864. Couch, Brit. Fishes, III. 96.
1875. W. A. Smith, Lewsiana, 237. The tursk or tosk … is perhaps the finest of the Gadidæ when fresh.
1883. Fisheries Exhib. Catal., 72. Dried Salted Tusk-fish,… mostly consumed in Scotch Markets.
