hulk
noun
\ ˈhəlk
\
\
Definition of hulk
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a
: a heavy clumsy ship
b(1)
: the body of an old ship unfit for service
(2)
: a ship used as a prison
—usually used in plural every prisoner sent to the hulks— Kenneth Roberts
c
: an abandoned wreck or shell (as of a building or automobile)
2
: one that is bulky or unwieldy
hulk
verb
hulked;
hulking;
hulks
Definition of hulk (Entry 2 of 2)
1
dialectal, England
: to move ponderously
2
: to appear impressively large or massive : loom
factories hulked along the river
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Synonyms for hulk
Synonyms: Noun
clod, clodhopper, gawk, lout, lubber, lug, lump, Neanderthal, oaf, palooka
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Examples of hulk in a Sentence
Noun
The ship's rusting hulk is still visible on the rocks. the burned out hulk of the factoryRecent Examples on the Web: Noun
In February, hunters in Utah claimed to have captured the hairy hulk on video, ambling across a mountain range. — Fox News, "Shots fired near Mammoth Cave campsite after alleged Bigfoot encounter, report says," 1 Aug. 2019 Their muscles were bulging; hairless incredible hulks with flat abs and veins branching from their crotch into their lower stomach. — Liana Satenstein, Vogue, "Where Is Neil Malcolm Roberts?," 29 June 2019 Then, early this year, a robotic camera, employed by a commercial team surveying an undersea route for a natural gas pipeline, illuminated not the gooey seabed but a mysterious hulk. — William J. Broad, New York Times, "A Shipwreck, 500 Years Old, Appears on the Baltic Seabed," 22 July 2019 In Pripyat, the ghost town once home to 50,000 people who mainly worked at the plant, an amusement park houses a rusting hulk of a merry-go-round and dodgem-car track, and a giant Ferris wheel that never went into operation. — NBC News, "HBO miniseries success drives Chernobyl tourism boom," 6 June 2019 Many of the Trona area's homes are abandoned – windowless hulks stripped of anything usable. — Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY, "Trona, California, was trying to bounce back. Then an earthquake hit. Then a bigger one.," 7 July 2019 Winds and ocean conditions take the sand away at times and expose more of the twisted hulk. — John Christopher Fine, sun-sentinel.com, "Boynton Beach’s maritime past lives on with Lofthus shipwreck," 21 June 2019 This is the place, this hulk of a building just off Interstate 880 in Oakland, that wrapped its arms around this storied team and nurtured its epic rise. — Randy Vazquez, The Mercury News, "Video: Goodbye, Oracle. Thanks for the memories — it’s been a heck of a ride!," 13 June 2019 Evan Karp, 36, a hulk of a jumper with a thick, untamed beard, sets up a water pump and begins laying hose while the rest of the men race back to the fire. — Mark Jenkins, National Geographic, "When wildfires break out, this elite team of ‘smokejumpers’ parachute in," 12 June 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The Trump administration has used diplomatic pressure, legal action, economic sanctions – and even cold, hard cash – to try to get its hands on a hulking Iranian oil tanker that has been spinning its way around Africa and the Middle East for months. — Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, "What a multi-million dollar 'bribe' for oil supertanker says about Trump’s Iran policy," 8 Sep. 2019 All this tinkering with dog DNA has led to a plethora of diverse pooches, from the hulking Great Dane to the tiny chihuahua. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Dog Breeding Has Changed Pooches’ Brains," 4 Sep. 2019 Many of the beach cottages and bungalows that once filled the town of Rehoboth Beach, Del., have long since given way to modern, multilevel homes that are hulking by comparison. — Chris Lindsley, Washington Post, "Rehoboth Beach’s Funland: A timeless treasure," 2 Aug. 2019 The video, directed by Rich Lee, is no less suffused with SoCal imagery, including scenes of the busy Port of Long Beach and of Del Rey surfing amid hulking offshore drilling rigs. — Los Angeles Times, "Lana Del Rey shares video for two new California-kissed singles: Watch," 22 Aug. 2019 Succession stars Brian Cox as Logan Roy, the ailing head of hulking media conglomerate Waystar Royco. — Julie Kosin, Harper's BAZAAR, "Succession Season 3 Is Officially a Go," 20 Aug. 2019 Kristian Thacker for The New York Times CUMBERLAND, Ky. — A little after 4 p.m. on Friday, four hulking big-rig cabs, facing each other in pairs and taking up both lanes, brought the Kingdom Come Parkway to a standstill. — Campbell Robertson, New York Times, "Unpaid Miners Blocked a Coal Train in Protest. Weeks Later, They’re Still There.," 19 Aug. 2019 After all, the installment centers around Maddy Perez (Alexa Demie) and her abusive relationship with Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi), the hulking Big Man on Campus with a three-mile-long rage streak. — Ariana Romero, refinery29.com, "Thinking Through Euphoria Season 1, Episode 5: “'03 Bonnie and Clyde”," 15 July 2019 Today, the neighborhood is sandwiched between rail lines and the hulking Interstate 70 viaduct. — Andrew Kenney, The Denver Post, "Incoming Denver Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca is a democratic socialist. Here’s what that means.," 15 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hulk.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for hulk
hulk
noun
English Language Learners Definition of hulk
: the main part of something (such as a ship, car, or building) that has been ruined and is no longer used
informal
: a large person
See the full definition for hulk in the English Language Learners Dictionary
hulk
noun
\ ˈhəlk
\
\
Kids Definition of hulk
1
: a person or thing that is bulky or clumsy
2
: an abandoned wreck or shell of something (as a ship)
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