hulk
Americannoun
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the body of an old or dismantled ship.
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a ship specially built to serve as a storehouse, prison, etc., and not for sea service.
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a clumsy-looking or unwieldy ship or boat.
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a bulky or unwieldy person, object, or mass.
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the shell of a wrecked, burned-out, or abandoned vehicle, building, or the like.
verb (used without object)
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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.
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British Dialect. to lounge, slouch, or move in a heavy, loutish manner.
noun
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the body of an abandoned vessel
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derogatory a large or unwieldy vessel
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derogatory a large ungainly person or thing
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(often plural) the frame or hull of a ship, used as a storehouse, etc, or (esp in 19th-century Britain) as a prison
verb
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informal (intr) to move clumsily
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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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At an estimated cost of $3.8 billion, it will replace the rusting, abandoned hulk that sits at the east end of East Capitol Street, fronting the Anacostia River.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026
While he said he finds the idea "interesting", Trump also acknowledged that the prison is currently a "big hulk" that is "rusting and rotting".
From BBC • May 5, 2025
The makeshift Philippine naval base there is built up around the grounded, rusting hulk of the World War II-era ship, the Sierra Madre.
From Washington Times • Dec. 5, 2023
But today, the experience of the diminutive women who likely died at the hands of Heuermann, a towering hulk of a man, is central in the minds of many who are reporting on his case.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 21, 2023
The lonesome hulk was unlikely to fulfill its purpose anytime soon.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
