I. ˈhəlk noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English hulke, from Old English hulc, from Medieval Latin holcas, hulca, from Greek holkas barge, trading vessel, from helkein to pull, drag, tow — more at sulcus
1. : ship ; specifically : a heavy ship of clumsy build
the colossal hulk was the Great Eastern, the forerunner of today's ocean liners — James Dugan
2. : one that is bulky or unwieldy
faced by a hulk of a man, well over six feet tall and professionally broad-shouldered — William Phillips b. 1878
towering hulks of two vast apartment houses — Lewis Mumford
the black hulks of the mountains across the bay — H.T.DeSa
3. obsolete : hull
her hulk painted over with sparkling vermilion — James Hayward
4.
a. : the body of an old wrecked or dismantled ship unfit for sea service
for a clubhouse the boys used an abandoned hulk they found on the waterfront
b. : an abandoned wreck or shell
the hulks of British tanks rusting in the fields — J.A.Phillips
once-glittering halls were left empty hulks — Foreign Affairs
the moribund hulk of the Spanish Empire — J.H.Plumb
c. : a ship used as a prison
a celebrated lock picker … serving time in a prison hulk — Rufus Jarman
— usually used in plural
every prisoner sent to the hulks — Kenneth Roberts
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
intransitive verb
1. dialect England : to move lazily or ponderously
hulks up from his chair by the hearth — Emmett Gowen
2. : to appear impressively large or massive : bulk , loom
the smoking port and Vesuvius hulking beyond — William Sansom
a horned owl coasted into a perch on a dead tree stub, and it hulked there against the sky — Hugh Fosburgh
transitive verb
: to condemn to or lodge in a hulk
III. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: alteration of holk to hollow out — more at howk
dialect : disembowel