▪ I. † hulk, n.1 Obs. or dial.
(hʌlk)
Forms: 1 hulc, 4– hulk; also 4 helk, 4–6 hulke, 5 hollek.
[OE. hulc hut, prob. going back to an earlier *huluc, a dim. formation from ablaut stem hul- of helan to cover; cf. hull n.1, hole, holl.]
1. A hut, shed, hovel. Obs. or dial.
| a 1000 Laws of Ethelred ii. c. 3 §2 Gyf he..hæbbe oððon hulc ᵹeworhtne, oððon ᵹeteld ᵹeslaᵹen. c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 336 He wolde ᵹenealæcan his hulce. c 1050 Suppl. ælfric's Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 185/13 Tugurium, hulc. 1388 Wyclif Isa. i. 8 As an hulke in a place where gourdis wexen. 1388 ― Wisd. xi. 2 Thei maden litle housis [v.rr. housis, ether hulkis; housis, either helkis] in desert places. 1391 in Foxe A. & M. (1570) 559/1 In a chappel not hallowed, but accurset sheperds hulke. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 726/23 Hoc tugurrium, a hollek. 1827 Clare Sheph. Cal. 32 Shepherds, that within their hulks remain. |
† 2. A hiding-place; or ? hiding, concealment.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8288 Hengist..had don hem skulke In wodes, in hilles, to crepe in hulke. |
3. A hull or husk (of fruit, grain, etc.); an outer covering or shell. Obs. or dial.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxxxv. (Bodl. MS.), Þe schale [of an acorn] wiþ þe curnel and þe hulke. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 85/1 The Hulk, hull, or pill is..any covering of fruit that is thin skinned or easily cut. 1707 J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 223 Blown Bladders, nothing but Hulk and Air. a 1796 Pegge Derbicisms, Hulk, a hull, or husk. |
▪ II. hulk, n.2
(hʌlk)
Forms: 1 hulc, 5–7 hulke, (6 Sc. houk), 7– hulk, (7 hulck, 9 dial. helk).
[OE. hulc, corresp. to med.L. hulcus, -um, -a; ME. hulke, corresp. to OF. hulke, hulque, houlque, hurque, hourque (fem.), a flat-bottomed transport-ship with prow and poop rounded (Godef.); MDu. hulc, hulke, mod.Du. hulk, MLG. hulk, holk, holke, OHG. holcho, MHG. holche, hülk, mod.G. holk, hülk, hulk: a word of early diffusion among the maritime peoples of Western Europe, of uncertain origin, conjecturally referred to Gr. ὁλκάς a ship that is towed, hence a ship of burthen, a trading vessel, merchantman.]
1. A ship. In an OE. glossary = L. liburna, a light, fast-sailing vessel. But usually, in ME. and later, A large ship of burden or transport, often associated with the carrack. Now arch. and in vague sense = ‘big, unwieldy vessel’.
| ? c 1000 Latin Laws of Ethelred, De Inst. Lond. c. 2 (13th c.) in Schmid Gesetze 218 Si adveniat ceol vel hulcus. c 1050 Suppl. ælfric's Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 181/28 Liburna, hulc. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly Gods 88 No shyp..keruell, boot ner barge, Gret karyk, nor hulke. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 252/2 Hulke, shype, hulcus. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxliv. (1482) 302 Grete carikkes, hulkes, galeyes and shippes. 1513 Douglas æneis x. v. 123 The mekle houk hym bayr was Tryton callit. 1558 W. Towrson in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 120 Two hulkes of Dantzich, the one..a shippe of 400 tunnes. 1611 Cotgr., Hourque, a Hulke, or huge Fly-boat. Ibid., Oulque, a Hulke. c 1620 Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 22 Eight persons were in Noah's hulk together. 1670 Cotton Espernon iii. ix. 441 One might..have call'd these prodigious Hulks (which were each of them of two thousand Tun) floating Cities, rather than Ships. 1730–46 Thomson Autumn 126 The sooty hulk Steered sluggish on. 1885 J. Runciman Skippers & Sh. 91 A vast gloomy hulk hove up on his port bow. |
| fig. 1637 Gillespie Eng. Pop. Cerem. Ep. A iv, These are the best wares which the bigge hulke of Conformity..hath imported amongst us. |
† 2. The hull of a ship. Obs.
| 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 39 The Galley..her hulke painted over with sparkling vermilion. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 110 These Saiques are like great Barks, having a round hulk. 1829 Nat. Philos. Prelim. Treat. 38 (U.K.S.) The back of its shell resembles the hulk of a ship. |
3. The body of a dismantled ship (worn out and unfit for sea service) retained in use as a store-vessel, for the temporary housing of crews, for quarantine or other purposes; also applied to vessels specially built for such purposes. (See also sheer-hulk.)
| 1671 Dryden Even. Love Pref., The hulk of Sir Francis Drake. 1681 Cotton Wond. Peak 75 Moor'd up with a Chain, Like Drake's old Hulk at Deptford. 1682 Lond. Gaz. No. 1756/1 The Hulk rides very securely within, and is..employed in Careening one of His Majesties Ships. 1694 Ibid. No. 3017/3 Yesterday was Launched..a new Hulk named the Chatham Hulk, which exceeds all that has been before built of that kind. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Hulks, are large vessels, having their gun-decks from 113 to 150 feet long, and from 31 to 40 feet broad;..Their chief use is for setting masts into ships, and the like. 1776 L. McIntosh in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) I. 163 We sunk a hulk in the channel of the river. 1817 J. Evans Excurs. Windsor etc. 467 Those vast ponderous Hulks devoted to the purposes of quarantine. |
| fig. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. i. iii, I'm a poor old hulk on a lee shore. |
b. A vessel of this kind formerly used as a prison. Usually pl. (See quot. 1864.)
| 1797 Sporting Mag. IX. 284 Major Semple..and another convict..were lodged on board the hulks at Portsmouth. 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales I. 151 The sentence of death..would be commuted for—the hulks. 1864 Chambers' Bk. of Days II. 67/2 It was as a means of devising a severe mode of punishment short of death that the Hulks on the Thames were introduced, in 1776... These prison-ships have sometimes been constructed for this special purpose, and yet the term ‘hulk’ remains in use as a short and easy designation. 1887 Times 26 Aug. 7/5 Prison life..was very unlike what it now is;..the hulks were sinks of iniquity. |
| attrib. 1897 P. Warung Old Regime 60 In the moment which succeeded the hulk-warder's words. Ibid. Achieving..a very bad ‘hulk report’ for himself. |
4. transf. and fig. a. A big, unwieldy person.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. i. 19 Harrie Monmouth's Brawne (the Hulke Sir Iohn). a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 22 The hulck of a tall Brabanter, behinde whom I stood..shadowed me from notice. 1828 Craven Dial., Helk, a large, heavy person. 1859 G. Meredith R. Feverel xl, There is something impressive in a great human hulk. 1894 Crockett Raiders 58 Think shame o' yersel', ye great hulk. |
b. A bulky or unwieldy mass (of anything).
| 1818 Scott Fam. Lett. 17 Jan. (1894) II. xiv. 11 The wind has not stirred a stone of the ugly hulk of stone and lime. 1828 Craven Dial., Helks, large white clouds, indicative of a thunder-storm. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. (1856) 546 These huge ice hulks. |
▪ III. hulk, n.3 local. Mining.
[Goes with hulk v.2]
An excavation made in removing the ‘gouge’, etc.
| 1847–78 Halliw., Hulk, an old excavated working. Derb. |
▪ IV. † hulk, v.1 Obs. rare.
[? f. hulk n.1 2.]
intr. To hide, lie concealed.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15888 Al þat ilke day he sculked, Among þe pouere men he hulked. |
▪ V. hulk, v.2
(hʌlk)
[app. a variant of holk v. to hollow out.]
† 1. trans. To disembowel. Obs. or dial.
| a 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster v. ii, And with this swashing blow..I could hulk your Grace, and hang you up cross⁓leg'd, Like a Hare at a Poulters. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. ix. 188/1 [To] Hulk, or Paunch, is to open the Hare, and take out her Garbage. 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece ii. i. 302 Take up the Hare, and hulk her. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Hulk, to take out the entrails of a hare or rabbit. |
2. Mining. To remove the ‘gouge’ or softer part of a lode before blasting or breaking down the harder part.
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Dzhu, to cut ahead on one side of a face, so as to increase the efficacy of blasting on the remainder..Also called to hulk. |
▪ VI. hulk, v.3
(hʌlk)
[f. hulk n.2]
I. 1. trans. † a. To condemn to ‘the hulks’ (see hulk n.2 3 b). b. To lodge (sailors, etc.) temporarily in a hulk.
| 1827 Blackw. Mag. XXII. 453 The poacher was taken, tried, hulked. 1836 E. Howard R. Reefer xxix, They were hulked on board of the Pegasus. 1859 All Year Round No. 17. 390/2 The Cherbourg authorities don't ‘hulk’ their seamen as we do in narrow, dirty, old-fashioned hulks. |
II. 2. intr. To act, hang about, or go in a clumsy, unwieldy, or lazy manner. dial.
| c 1793 Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1799) I. 76 Before I'd dance attendance upon you..till four or five o'clock in the after⁓noon, while you lie hulking in bed. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia s.v., It is said of a lazy lout, who has nothing to do, and desires to have nothing, that he goes hulking about from place to place, seemingly watching for opportunities to pilfer. |
3. (With up.) To rise bulkily or massively.
| 1880 Blackmore Mary Anerley I. vi. 65 This is the chump of the spine of the Wolds, which hulks up at last into Flamborough Head. 1892 Daily News 17 Sept. 5/4 The working man is getting his body back again into good condition..He is hulking-up, as we say. |