bulge
noun
- round protrusion
verb
- to form a protuberance; to swell out
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈbʌldʒ/ / /ˈbʊldʒ/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English bulge (“leather bag; hump”), from Old Northern French boulge (“leather bag”), from Late Latin bulga (“leather sack”), from Gaulish *bulga, *bulgos, from Proto-Celtic *bolgos (“sack, bag, stomach”). Cognate with bilge, belly, bellows, budget, French bouge, German Balg, etc. Doublet of budge, and from the same root as belly and bellows. See also budget.
- An object which is sticking out from a surface; a swelling, protuberant part; a bending outward, especially when caused by pressure.
“a bulge in a wall”
“There was a bulge in my pocket where I kept my wallet.”
- The bilge or protuberant part of a cask.
- A rounded fleshy mass, such as on a camel or zebu.
- The bilge of a vessel.
- The outline of the penis visible through clothing.
“Max looked down and sure as crap, his bulge was huge, and he started to stammer and stutter and without hesitation said, Holy crap Sandy, look at what you do to me.”
“As his bulge begins to swell once again, her hand strokes the length of it through his pants.”
- A sudden rise in value or quantity.
“A second bulge in prices occurred during September 30 — October 9. The rise of prices up to October 3 was in part apparently a technical adjustment of the markets, a reaction to the preceding decline.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English bulge (“leather bag; hump”), from Old Northern French boulge (“leather bag”), from Late Latin bulga (“leather sack”), from Gaulish *bulga, *bulgos, from Proto-Celtic *bolgos (“sack, bag, stomach”). Cognate with bilge, belly, bellows, budget, French bouge, German Balg, etc. Doublet of budge, and from the same root as belly and bellows. See also budget.
- To stick out from a surface without breaking it.
“He stood six feet tall, with muscular arms bulging out of his black T-shirt.”
“The wind actually stirred the cloth on the chest of drawers, and let in a little light, so that the sharp edge of the chest of drawers was visible, running straight up, until a white shape bulged out; and a silver streak showed in the looking-glass.”
- (of a container, etc.) To have the surface stretched by something pushing out; to swell; to belly.
“The submarine bulged because of the enormous air pressure inside.”
“You will return from work one day to an empty, echoing apartment, and the neighbors will tell you that B was last seen driving away in a bulging moving van.”
- To bilge, as a ship; to founder.
“Fatal to Man! at once all Ocean roars, And scattered navies bulge on distant shores.”