Adjacent Words

Hulk definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HULK, n.
1. The body of a ship, or decked vessel of any kind; but the word is applied only to the body of an old ship or vessel which is laid by as unfit for service. A sheer-hulk is an old ship fitted with an apparatus to fix or take out the masts of a ship.
2. Any thing bulky or unwieldy. [Not used.]
HULK, v.t. To take out the entrails; as, to hulk a hare. [Little used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a very large person; impressive in size or qualities [syn: giant, hulk, heavyweight, whale]
2: a ship that has been wrecked and abandoned v
1: appear very large or occupy a commanding position; "The huge sculpture predominates over the fountain"; "Large shadows loomed on the canyon wall" [syn: loom, tower, predominate, hulk]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English hulke, from Old English hulc, probably from Medieval Latin holcas, from Greek holkas, from helkein to pull — more at sulcus Date: before 12th century 1. a. a heavy clumsy ship b. (1) the body of an old ship unfit for service (2) a ship used as a prison — usually used in plural <every prisoner sent to the hulks — Kenneth Roberts> c. an abandoned wreck or shell (as of a building or automobile) 2. one that is bulky or unwieldy <a big hulk of a man> II. intransitive verb Date: circa 1825 1. dialect England to move ponderously 2. to appear impressively large or massive ; loom <factories hulked along the river>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a the body of a dismantled ship, used as a store vessel etc. b (in pl.) hist. this used as a prison. 2 an unwieldy vessel. 3 colloq. a large clumsy-looking person or thing. Etymology: OE hulc & MLG, MDu. hulk: cf. Gk holkas cargo ship

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hulk Hulk, n. [OE. hulke a heavy ship, AS. hulc a light, swift ship; akin to D. hulk a ship of burden, G. holk, OHG. holcho; perh. fr. LL. holcas, Gr. ?, prop., a ship which is towed, fr. ? to draw, drag, tow. Cf. Wolf, Holcad.] 1. The body of a ship or decked vessel of any kind; esp., the body of an old vessel laid by as unfit for service. ``Some well-timbered hulk.'' --Spenser. 2. A heavy ship of clumsy build. --Skeat. 3. Anything bulky or unwieldly. --Shak. Shear hulk, an old ship fitted with an apparatus to fix or take out the masts of a ship. The hulks, old or dismasted ships, formerly used as prisons. [Eng.] --Dickens.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hulk Hulk, v. t. [Cf. MLG. holken to hollow out, Sw. h[*a]lka.] To take out the entrails of; to disembowel; as, to hulk a hare. [R.] --Beau. & Fl.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(hulks) 1. The hulk of something is the large, ruined remains of it. ...the ruined hulk of the old church tower... N-COUNT: oft N of n 2. You use hulk to describe anything which is large and seems threatening to you. I followed his big hulk into the house. N-COUNT: usu with supp

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Hull (of an old vessel), broken and dismasted vessel.

Moby Thesaurus

anatomy, argosy, bark, boat, body, bones, bottom, bucket, carcass, clay, clod, corpus, craft, derelict, figure, flesh, form, frame, galoot, hooker, hull, jumbo, keel, klutz, leviathan, lout, material body, mere wreck, nervous wreck, oaf, ox, packet, person, physical body, physique, rattletrap, ruin, ruins, shell, ship, shipwreck, skeleton, soma, thumper, torso, trunk, tub, vessel, watercraft, whale, whopper, wreck