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.
But Mr. Lithgow’s performance is infused with a sneaky playfulness evoking the “broken boy,” as Jessie puts it, still cavorting in the hulk of an elderly man.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
It is shrouded in scaffolding while the neglected, rusting hulk is gradually restored.
From BBC • Jan. 31, 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 silent commands were obeyed because just then William Ernest, honey, appeared, and Trotter roused her great hulk from the table to get him his snack.
From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson
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.
