noun
1.
the body of an old or dismantled ship.
2.
a ship specially built to serve as a storehouse, prison, etc., and not for sea service.
3.
a clumsy-looking or unwieldy ship or boat.
4.
a bulky or unwieldy person, object, or mass.
5.
the shell of a wrecked, burned-out, or abandoned vehicle, building, or the like.
verb (used without object)
6.
to loom in bulky form; appear as a large, massive bulk (often followed by up ): The bus hulked up suddenly over the crest of the hill.
7.
British Dialect. to lounge, slouch, or move in a heavy, loutish manner.
00:10
Hulk
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is fletcherise. Does it mean:
| to spend time idly; loaf. |
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English hulke, Old English hulc; perhaps < Medieval Latin hulcus < Greek holkás trading vessel, orig., towed ship
before 1000; Middle English hulke, Old English hulc; perhaps < Medieval Latin hulcus < Greek holkás trading vessel, orig., towed ship
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To hulk
Collins
World English Dictionary
hulk (hʌlk) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | the body of an abandoned vessel |
| 2. | derogatory a large or unwieldy vessel |
| 3. | derogatory a large ungainly person or thing |
| 4. | (often plural) the frame or hull of a ship, used as a storehouse, etc, or (esp in 19th-century Britain) as a prison |
| —vb (often foll by up) | |
| 5. | informal (Brit) (intr) to move clumsily |
| 6. | to rise massively |
| [Old English hulc, from Medieval Latin hulca, from Greek holkas barge, from helkein to tow] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
hulk
O.E. hulc "light, fast ship" (but in M.E. a heavy, unwieldy one), probably from O.Du. hulke and M.L. hulcus, from Gk. holkas "merchant ship," lit. "ship that is towed." Meaning "body of an old, worn-out ship" is first recorded 1671. The Hulks ("Great Expectations") were old ships used as prisons. Sense
of "big, clumsy person" is first recorded 1597. The verb meaning "to go about in a hulking manner" is from 1793.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The hulk is stored until body and frame members are needed for sale or the hulk is crushed and sold as scrap.
When it's finished with that work, there's simply no use for the metal hulk that remains.
The final blaze left the church nothing but an empty brick hulk.
It stands behind its grim security fence, a great gray hulk surrounded by the rubble left over from its construction.
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