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Webster 1913 Edition

Hulk

Hulk

,
Noun.
[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. [GREEK], prop., a ship which is towed, fr. [GREEK] 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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Hulk

HULK

,
Noun.
1.
The body of a ship, or decked vessel of any kind; but the word is applied only to the body of an old ship or vessel which is laid by as unfit for service. A sheer-hulk is an old ship fitted with an apparatus to fix or take out the masts of a ship.
2.
Any thing bulky or unwieldy. [Not used.]

HULK

,
Verb.
T.
To take out the entrails; as, to hulk a hare. [Little used.]

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