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.
The 35-year-old sculptor's studio brims with cogs, chains, hubcaps and engine parts as his hulking creations -- a lion with a mane of twisted steel, a giant Tyrannosaurus rex and a towering Optimus Prime -- take shape.
From Barron's
Against the rising sun they were just two black shapes, but I knew those hulking outlines well.
From Literature
Soccer’s global powers, worth billions upon billions, come equipped with hulking stadiums, cutting-edge training facilities, and superstars imported from all over the globe.
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.
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.
