Definition of buskins:
(n) :
(by extension) Tragic drama; tragedy.
(n) :
(historical) A type of soft calf- or knee-high boot that laces up the front, sometimes featuring open toes or thick soles, worn in the Greco-Roman world by hunters and horsemen, as well as by actors in Athenian tragedy.
(n) :
(chiefly historical) A soft boot reaching to calf or knee height.
(n) :
(Catholicism) A pontifical vestment in the form of a silk stocking, sometimes embroidered or interwoven with gold thread, reaching to the base of the knee and worn over one’s regular socks but under episcopal sandals.
(n) :
An instrument of torture for the foot; bootikin.