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.
Hulk (?), v. t. [Cf. MLG. holken to hollow out, Sw. hÂlka.] To take out
the entrails of; to disembowel; as, to hulk a hare. [R.] Beau. & Fl.
{ Hulk"ing, Hulk"y (?), } a. Bulky; unwiedly. [R.] "A huge hulking
fellow." H. Brooke.
Hull (?), n. [OE. hul, hol, shell, husk, AS. hulu; akin to G. h¸lle
covering, husk, case, h¸llen to cover, Goth. huljan to cover, AS. helan
to hele, conceal. √17. See Hele, v. t., Hell.] 1. The outer
covering of anything, particularly of a nut or of grain; the outer skin
of a kernel; the husk.
2. [In this sense perh. influenced by D. hol hold of a ship, E. hold.]
(Naut.) The frame or body of a vessel, exclusive of her masts, yards,
sails, and rigging.
Deep in their hulls our deadly bullets light.
Dryden.
Hull down, said of a ship so distant that her hull is concealed by the
convexity of the sea.
Hull, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hulled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Hulling.] 1. To
strip off or separate the hull or hulls of; to free from integument;
as, to hull corn.