hulk

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /hʌlk/ Rhymes: -ʌlk === Etymology 1 === From Middle English hulk, hulke, holke (“hut; shed for hogs; type of ship; husk, pod, shell; large, clumsy person; a giant”) (probably reinforced by Middle Dutch hulk, huelc, and Middle Low German hulk, holk, hollek (“freighter, cargo ship, barge”)), from Old English hulc (“light ship; heavy, clumsy ship; cabin, hovel, hut”), from Proto-West Germanic *huluk, *hulik, from Proto-Germanic *hulukaz, *hulikaz (“something hollowed or dug out, cavity”), equivalent to hole/hollow +‎ -ock. Cognate with Old High German holcho (“cargo or transport ship, barge”) (whence Middle High German holche, modern German Holk), Old Norse hólkr (“metal tube, ring”), dialectal Norwegian holk, hylke (“wooden barrel”), Middle English holken (“to dig out, gouge”). Relation to Medieval Latin hulcus (“ship”) is uncertain, as Old English may have borrowed from Latin or vice versa, but the form holcas rather points to borrowing from Ancient Greek ὁλκάς (holkás, “ship being towed; cargo ship, ship used for trading, holcad”) (compare Ancient Greek ἕλκω (hélkō, “to drag”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *selk- (“to draw, pull”)). See more at the Old English entry hulc. The verb is derived from the noun. ==== Noun ==== hulk (plural hulks) (nautical) (archaic) A large ship used for transportation; (more generally) a large ship that is difficult to manoeuvre. (by extension) A non-functional but floating ship, usually stripped of equipment and rigging, and often put to other uses such as accommodation or storage. (figuratively) A large structure with a dominating presence. (figuratively) A big (and possibly clumsy) person. (bodybuilding) An excessively muscled person. ===== Alternative forms ===== hulke (obsolete) ===== Derived terms ===== hulkish hulksome hulky sheer hulk ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== hulk (third-person singular simple present hulks, present participle hulking, simple past and past participle hulked) (transitive, nautical) To reduce (a ship) to a non-functional hulk. To temporarily house (goods, people, etc.) in such a hulk. (transitive) To move (a large, hulking body). (intransitive) To be a hulk, that is, a large, hulking, and often imposing presence. (intransitive) Of a (large) person: to act or move slowly and clumsily. ===== Derived terms ===== hulking (adjective, noun) hulkingly hulk off hulk out ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === A variant of holk (“to dig out, hollow out, make hollow; to dig up, excavate; to dig into, investigate”), from Middle English holken (“to dig out, hollow out; to dig up, excavate”) (compare holk (“a hollow; body cavity”)), perhaps from Middle Low German hȫlken (“to hollow out, gouge”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hulaz (“hollow”, adjective); further etymology uncertain, perhaps either from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”), or *ḱewh₁- (“to swell; to be strong”). Compare also Old English āhlocian (“to dig out”). ==== Verb ==== hulk (third-person singular simple present hulks, present participle hulking, simple past and past participle hulked) (transitive, obsolete except British, dialectal) To remove the entrails of; to disembowel. === References === === Further reading === hulk (medieval ship type) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia hulk (ship type) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia hulk (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === Anagrams === Kuhl, kuhl == Lower Sorbian == === Noun === hulk m inan obsolete spelling of wulk ==== Declension ==== == Middle Low German == === Noun === hulk m alternative form of holk === References === "holk" in Köbler, Gerhard, Mittelniederdeutsches Wörterbuch (3rd edition 2014)