hull

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English; Old English hulu husk, pod; akin to Old English helan to cover, hide, Latin cēlāre to hide, conceal, Greek kalýptein to cover up (see apocalypse). See hall, hell, hole

Related forms

hull·er, noun

Synonyms
1. skin, pod, peel, rind, shuck.

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

the hollow, lowermost portion of a ship, floating partially submerged and supporting the remainder of the ship.

Aeronautics.

the boatlike fuselage of a flying boat on which the plane lands or takes off.

the cigar-shaped arrangement of girders enclosing the gasbag of a rigid dirigible.

verb (used with object)

to pierce (the hull of a ship), especially below the water line.

verb (used without object)

to drift without power or sails.

Idioms

hull down, (of a ship) sufficiently far away, or below the horizon, that the hull is invisible.

hull up, (of a ship) sufficiently near, or above the horizon, that the hull is visible.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English; special use of hull¹

Related forms

hull-less, adjective

noun

Cor·dell

[kawr-del, kawr-del] , 1871–1955, U.S. statesman: Secretary of State 1933–44; Nobel peace prize 1945.

Robert Marvin ( "Bobby" ) born 1939, Canadian ice-hockey player.

William, 1753–1825, U.S. general.

Official name Kingston-upon-Hull. a seaport in Humberside, in E England, on the Humber River.

a city in SE Canada, on the Ottawa River opposite Ottawa.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To hull

Collins

World English Dictionary

hull (hʌl)

—n
1.	the main body of a vessel, tank, flying boat, etc
2.	the shell or pod of peas or beans; the outer covering of any fruit or seed; husk
3.	the persistent calyx at the base of a strawberry, raspberry, or similar fruit
4.	the outer casing of a missile, rocket, etc

—vb
5.	to remove the hulls from (fruit or seeds)
6.	(tr) to pierce the hull of (a vessel, tank, etc)

[Old English hulu; related to Old High German helawa, Old English helan to hide]

'huller

—n

'hull-less

—*adj*

Hull¹ (hʌl)

—n
1.	a city and port in NE England, in Kingston upon Hull unitary authority, East Riding of Yorkshire: fishing, food processing; two universities. Pop: 301 416 (2001). Official name: Kingston upon Hull
2.	a city in SE Canada, in SW Quebec on the River Ottawa: a centre of the timber trade and associated industries. Pop: 66 246 (2001)

Hull² (hʌl)

—n
	Cordell. 1871--1955, US statesman; secretary of state (1933-- 44). He helped to found the U.N.: Nobel peace prize 1945

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

hull

"seed covering," from O.E. hulu, from P.Gmc. *khulus "to cover" (cf. O.H.G. hulla, hulsa). The verb was in M.E.; hulled can mean both "having a particular kind of hull" and "stripped of the hull."

hull

"body of a ship," 1571, perhaps from hull (1) on fancied resemblance of ship keels to open peapods (cf. L. carina "keel of a ship," originally "shell of a nut;" Gk. phaselus "light passenger ship, yacht," lit. "bean pod;" Fr. coque "hull of a ship, shell of a walnut or egg"). Alternative etymology is

from M.E. hoole "ship's keel" (c.1440), from the same source as hold (n.).

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

hull

(hŭl) Pronunciation Key

The dry outer covering of a fruit, seed, or nut; a husk.
The enlarged calyx of a fruit, such as a strawberry, that is usually green and easily detached.

Example sentences

The stuff had adhered to the steel hull after being ground up and tossed into

the air by the vehicle's treads.

As the hull construction progressed, laborers moved across scaffolds to drill

holes through the hull wherever two planks met.

Mechanical mixers fitted between the booms and the hull will increase the

wool's absorptive capacity.

The hull of a wrecked boat sits on a beach at sunset.

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Matching Quote

"Jane Addams, founder of Hull House, once asked, "How shall we respond to the dreams of youth?" It is a dazzling and elegant question, a question that demands an answer—a range of answers, really, spiraling outward in widening circles."

-William Ayers