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illustration Busker

Busker

[BUS-kər]

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Spanish, 17th century

1.

A person who performs music or other entertainment in the street or another public place for monetary donations.

Examples of Busker in a sentence

"The busker outside the restaurant was playing a moving rendition of a Whitney Houston song."

"Shirish put himself through college by performing as a busker with his guitar outside the movie theater downtown."

About Busker

“Busker” is based on the verb “to busk,” meaning “to ask for money in exchange for entertaining the public in the street.” This term was likely based on the Spanish “buscar,” meaning “to seek,” or “to fetch.”

Did you Know?

Cities as disparate as Halifax, Dubai, San Diego, Tullamore, and Zagreb play host to busker festivals every year. Many of these claim to be “the world’s largest festival of buskers,” though none has been proven to be so. The buskers themselves are as creative as they are unpredictable. There are plenty of performances of live music, juggling, and magic, but there are deep variations on even those traditional ideas. People attending a busker festival might see someone juggling chainsaws and bowling balls, or musicians playing whimsical instruments (and non-instruments) in surprising ways.

illustration Busker

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