What does "hulk" mean?
A large ship used for transportation; (more generally) a large ship that is difficult to manoeuvre.
Hulk
/hʌlk/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A large ship used for transportation; (more generally) a large ship that is difficult to manoeuvre.
- Grammar: hulk is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: giant, anatomy, argosy, bark.
- Useful contrasts: delicate item, diminish, float.
- Usage evidence: Growing up as a prepubescent in the Philippines, I read a lot of American-style comics, which fortified my liking for science fiction. I remember stories about an abandoned Martian civilization, the Green Lantern superhero, The Incredible Hulk, and many more.
How to use "hulk"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hulk" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hulk" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hulk" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hulk" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "hulk" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "giant" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "hulk", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A large ship used for transportation; (more generally) a large ship that is difficult to manoeuvre. archaic
"Light boates ſaile ſwift, though greater hulkes draw deepe."
- 2 A person resembling, especially physically, the Hulk in the Marvel Comics Universe.
- 3 a ship that has been wrecked and abandoned wordnet
- 4 A non-functional but floating ship, usually stripped of equipment and rigging, and often put to other uses such as accommodation or storage. broadly
"They could see the lighthouse shining on Quarantine Island, and the green lights on the old coal hulks."
- 5 A strongman. broadly
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 a very large person; impressive in size or qualities wordnet
- 7 A large structure with a dominating presence. figuratively
"The sturdy trunk of Central Park Tower is rising nearby – a great glass hulk that will soon steal the crown for the most vertiginous residences on the planet."
- 8 A big (and possibly clumsy) person. figuratively
- 9 A big (and possibly clumsy) person.; An excessively muscled person. figuratively
Verb
- 1 To reduce (a ship) to a non-functional hulk. transitive
"In Fremantle very few vessels appear to have been reduced to hulks, and only one figure head Samuel Plimsoll, [Fig. 62] survives from a sailing ship hulked in 1904. [...] The Sarah Burnyeat was hulked in Albany in 1886, [...]"
- 2 To remove the entrails of; to disembowel. dialectal, transitive
"And with this ſwaſhing blow, do you ſwear Prince; / I could hulk your Grace, and hang you up croſs-legg'd, / Like a Hare at a Poulters, and do this with this wiper."
- 3 appear very large or occupy a commanding position wordnet
- 4 To temporarily house (goods, people, etc.) in such a hulk. transitive
- 5 To move (a large, hulking body). transitive
"This hearty, willing man had hulked his 354 pounds about the world, faithfully and deftly running presidential errands in Cuba, Panama, the Philippines, Rome, Russia, and Japan and China."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To be a hulk, that is, a large, hulking, and often imposing presence. intransitive
"After one trip with them, he decided he couldn't stand to have bodyguards hulking around him wherever he went. He felt like an idiot walking along the aisles of the supermarket with eight lumpy men standing around [...]"
- 7 Of a (large) person: to act or move slowly and clumsily. intransitive
"After a while he hulked up to where Erland sat, putting his hairy fist on the table and watching the boy work."
Proper Noun
- 1 A fictional Marvel Comics character who gains superhuman strength when he becomes angry.
"Fry: How can you say Lars is more mature than me? Leela: Well, for one thing, his checkbook doesn't have the Hulk on it."
Example
"Growing up as a prepubescent in the Philippines, I read a lot of American-style comics, which fortified my liking for science fiction. I remember stories about an abandoned Martian civilization, the Green Lantern superhero, The Incredible Hulk, and many more."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hulk"?
Common synonyms include: giant, anatomy, argosy, bark, bear, behemoth.
How do you use "hulk" in a sentence?
Growing up as a prepubescent in the Philippines, I read a lot of American-style comics, which fortified my liking for science fiction. I remember stories about an abandoned Martian civilization, the Green Lantern superhero, The Incredible Hulk, and many more.
How do you pronounce "hulk"?
Pronounced /hʌlk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English hulk, hulke, holke (“hut; shed for hogs; type of ship; husk, pod, shell; large, clumsy person; a giant”) (probably reinforced by Middle Dutch hulk, huelc, and Middle Low German hulk, holk, hollek (“freighter, cargo ship, barge”)), from Old English hulc (“light ship; heavy, clumsy ship; cabin, hovel, hut”), from Proto-West Germanic *huluk, *hulik, from Proto-Germanic *hulukaz, *hulikaz (“something hollowed or dug out, cavity”), equivalent to hole/hollow + -ock. Cognate with Old High German holcho (“cargo or transport ship, barge”) (whence Middle High German holche, modern German Holk), Old Norse hólkr (“metal tube, ring”), dialectal Norwegian holk, hylke (“wooden barrel”), Middle English holken (“to dig out, gouge”). Relation to Medieval Latin hulcus (“ship”) is uncertain, as Old English may have borrowed from Latin or vice versa, but the form holcas rather points to borrowing from Ancient Greek ὁλκάς (holkás, “ship being towed; cargo ship, ship used for trading, holcad”) (compare Ancient Greek ἕλκω (hélkō, “to drag”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *selk- (“to draw, pull”)). See more at the Old English entry hulc. The verb is derived from the noun.
Etymology 2
A variant of holk (“to dig out, hollow out, make hollow; to dig up, excavate; to dig into, investigate”), from Middle English holken (“to dig out, hollow out; to dig up, excavate”) (compare holk (“a hollow; body cavity”)), perhaps from Middle Low German hȫlken (“to hollow out, gouge”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hulaz (“hollow”, adjective); further etymology uncertain, perhaps either from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”), or *ḱewh₁- (“to swell; to be strong”). Compare also Old English āhlocian (“to dig out”).
Etymology 3
The name of a character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for the Marvel Comics Universe, it has since entered the everyday English lexicon. The name itself is most likely derived from the word hulk (“large person or thing”), which predates the character. See the Wikipedia link at the bottom.