hulk

[huhlk]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hulk ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the body of an old or dismantled ship.

a ship specially built to serve as a storehouse, prison, etc., and not for sea service.

a clumsy-looking or unwieldy ship or boat.

a bulky or unwieldy person, object, or mass.

the shell of a wrecked, burned-out, or abandoned vehicle, building, or the like.

verb (used without object)

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.

British Dialect. to lounge, slouch, or move in a heavy, loutish manner.

Origin of hulk

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 Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hulk

hull, blob, hunk, skeleton, wreck, body, clod, shell, clump, frame, bulk, mass, shambles, ruins, chunk, shipwreck

Examples from the Web for hulk

Contemporary Examples of hulk

Hulk has a more prominent role, and I have a more prominent role.
Jeremy Renner Opens Up About Marriage, His Problems with the Media, and the Future of Hawk-Eye
Marlow Stern
September 29, 2014
I just have this personal mental obsession with the Hulk being an Asian-American male icon.
Model Minority Rage: Why the Hulk Should Be an Asian Guy
Arthur Chu
July 18, 2014
Whenever I take a clickbait quiz to determine which of The Avengers I would be, I always game the questions to aim for the Hulk.
Model Minority Rage: Why the Hulk Should Be an Asian Guy
Arthur Chu
July 18, 2014
He disallowed a goal scored by Hulk that would have given Brazil a 2-1 lead.
World Cup 2014 Nail-Biter: Host Country Brazil Defeats Chile on Penalty Kicks
Tunku Varadarajan
June 28, 2014
A long, diagonal cross from Marcelo saw the ball reach Hulk, who brought it down to his feet from the top of his monumental chest.
World Cup 2014 Nail-Biter: Host Country Brazil Defeats Chile on Penalty Kicks
Tunku Varadarajan
June 28, 2014

Historical Examples of hulk

He seemed huger than ever with his hulk sinking into the gray darkness behind him.
Dust
Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
“Now the next thing is to get aboard the hulk,” was Dick's thought.
The Dare Boys of 1776
Stephen Angus Cox
Bought her for eight dollars of the feller that owned her, and she was a hulk for sartin then.
The Woman-Haters
Joseph C. Lincoln
He's been aboard this hulk afore, and we made him swim for it that time.
Captain Blood
Rafael Sabatini
Near at hand was the hulk of the second ship, now a blazing furnace.
Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer
Cyrus Townsend Brady

British Dictionary definitions for hulk

hulk

noun

the body of an abandoned vessel

derogatory a large or unwieldy vessel

derogatory a large ungainly person or thing

(often plural) the frame or hull of a ship, used as a storehouse, etc, or (esp in 19th-century Britain) as a prison

verb

(intr) British informal to move clumsily

(intr often foll by up) to rise massively

Word Origin for hulk

Old English hulc, from Medieval Latin hulca, from Greek holkas barge, from helkein to tow

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hulk

Old English hulc "light, fast ship" (but in Middle English a heavy, unwieldy one), probably from Old Dutch hulke and Medieval Latin hulcus, perhaps ultimately from Greek holkas "merchant ship," literally "ship that is towed," from helkein "to pull" (from PIE root *selk- "to pull, draw"). Meaning "body of an old, worn-out ship" is first recorded 1670s. The Hulks ("Great Expectations") were old ships used as prisons. Sense of "big, clumsy person" is first recorded c.1400 (early 14c. as a surname: Stephen le Hulke).

"to be clumsy, unwieldy, lazy," 1789, from hulk (n.). Related: Hulked; hulking.