Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Hulk

Hulk (hŭlk), n. [OE. hulke a heavy ship, AS. hulc a light, swift ship; akin to D. hulk a ship of burden, G. holk, OHG. holcho; perh. fr. LL. holcas, Gr. ὁλκάς, prop., a ship which is towed, fr. ἕλκειν to draw, drag, tow. Cf. Wolf, Holcad.] 1. The body of a ship or decked vessel of any kind; esp., the body of an old vessel laid by as unfit for service. "Some well-timbered hulk." Spenser.

2. A heavy ship of clumsy build. Skeat.

3. Anything bulky or unwieldly. Shak.

Shear hulk, an old ship fitted with an apparatus to fix or take out the masts of a ship. — The hulks, old or dismasted ships, formerly used as prisons. [Eng.] Dickens.

Hulk (hŭlk), v. t. [Cf. MLG. holken to hollow out, Sw. hålka.] To take out the entrails of; to disembowel; as, to hulk a hare. [R.] Beau. & Fl.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article.