hulk

American  

[huhlk] / hʌlk /

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.

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verb (used without object)

1. to loom in bulky form; appear as a large, massive bulk (often followed byup ).

   The bus hulked up suddenly over the crest of the hill.

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

hulk British  

/ hʌlk /

noun

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

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verb

1. informal (intr) to move clumsily

2. to rise massively

Etymology

Origin of hulk

before 1000; Middle English hulke, Old English hulc; perhaps < Medieval Latin hulcus < Greek holkás trading vessel, originally, towed ship

Example Sentences

Outside, the hulking infrastructure is now a testament to a long-gone era of space cooperation.

From Barron's

From tail-finned land yachts of the 1960s to hulking family haulers in the 1980s and then the 1990s bestseller Ford Taurus, driving for Americans meant driving a sedan.

From The Wall Street Journal

My stomach clenches at the sight of Dad, who looks small next to these hulking men.

From Literature

A hulking, labyrinth of a manor, punctuated with chimneys of all shapes and sizes.

From Literature

“I got beat clean,” the hulking right tackle said.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• blob
• hull
• hunk
• skeleton
• wreck