busker
noun
busk·er ˈbə-skər 
chiefly British
: a person who entertains in a public place for donations
busk
ˈbəsk
intransitive verb 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web My affinity for this special place goes back to childhood when my great uncle was a semi-famous busker strumming his Gibson guitar on various street corners. 
Leslie Kelly, Forbes, 24 Apr. 2022 By the mid-2000s, Alynda Lee had settled in New Orleans, becoming part of its DIY busker scene and gigging with a rotating crew of young musicians who’d congregated in the city post-Katrina. Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 13 Jan. 2022 Before that, Claudi, an avid busker, was a fixture at the Delancey Street subway station on the Lower East Side. New York Times, 16 Dec. 2021 Ahead of the rose ceremony, Michelle and Rick, 32, strolled around the block and stopped to dance by a busker playing piano. Dana Rose Falcone, PEOPLE.com, 16 Nov. 2021 At the Conservatory Garden, a bride and her groom were posing for photographs on one black bench, while a busker napped on another. Jonathan Lee, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2021 Sections of Sonoma County received about two-hundredths of an inch of rainfall Thursday afternoon, and in Oakland, near Lake Merritt, the rain was enough to halt a busker’s performance and send his audience scattering. Andres Picon, San Francisco Chronicle, 9 Sep. 2021 In the film’s closing shot, Sharad and his family are traveling by train as a young busker, singing traditional songs, moves through the compartment. Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 May 2021 In a banking hub full of office workers, Mr. Kwok, who died last month at 68, was a rare figure: a full-time busker with a rockabilly pompadour. New York Times, 15 Jan. 2021 See More
Leslie Kelly, Forbes, 24 Apr. 2022 By the mid-2000s, Alynda Lee had settled in New Orleans, becoming part of its DIY busker scene and gigging with a rotating crew of young musicians who’d congregated in the city post-Katrina. Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 13 Jan. 2022 Before that, Claudi, an avid busker, was a fixture at the Delancey Street subway station on the Lower East Side. New York Times, 16 Dec. 2021 Ahead of the rose ceremony, Michelle and Rick, 32, strolled around the block and stopped to dance by a busker playing piano. Dana Rose Falcone, PEOPLE.com, 16 Nov. 2021 At the Conservatory Garden, a bride and her groom were posing for photographs on one black bench, while a busker napped on another. Jonathan Lee, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2021 Sections of Sonoma County received about two-hundredths of an inch of rainfall Thursday afternoon, and in Oakland, near Lake Merritt, the rain was enough to halt a busker’s performance and send his audience scattering. Andres Picon, San Francisco Chronicle, 9 Sep. 2021 In the film’s closing shot, Sharad and his family are traveling by train as a young busker, singing traditional songs, moves through the compartment. Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 May 2021 In a banking hub full of office workers, Mr. Kwok, who died last month at 68, was a rare figure: a full-time busker with a rockabilly pompadour. New York Times, 15 Jan. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
busk, probably from Italian buscare to procure, gain, from Spanish buscar to look for
First Known Use
1851, in the meaning defined above
busker
noun
as in performer
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- performer
- entertainer
- trouper
- mime
- player
- pantomime
- impressionist
- pantomimist
- impersonator
- clown
- mimic
- imitator
- mummer
- aper
- pantaloon