Skip to content

hull

noun

  1. watertight body of a ship or boat
  2. the outer covering of a fruit or seed
  3. the persistent calyx or involucre that subtends some fruits (such as a strawberry)
  4. the main body of a usually large or heavy craft or vehicle (such as an airship or tank)
  5. covering, casing
L16942 on Wikidata ↗

verb

  1. removal of outer covering
  2. attack and strike a ship
L331946 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /hʌl/ / /hʊl/ / /ʊl/

name

Etymology: The town in England is Inherited from Middle English Hull, Hul, Hulle, traditionally derived from Proto-Brythonic *hʉl, from Proto-Celtic *soulos, from Proto-Indo-European *sew- (“to press”); Breeze instead suggests derivation from hula, plural of hulu (“hut”). Chaucer's Hulle (for expected *Hul, *Hule) is presumably a hypercorrect Southern form. The surname is either from the English town or Middle English hulle, western variant of hylle (“hill”); many other place names are ultimately from the surname.

  1. A placename:
  2. A placename:
  3. A placename:
  4. A placename:
  5. A placename:
  6. A placename:
  7. A placename:
  8. A placename:
  9. A placename:
  10. A placename:
  11. A placename:
  12. A placename:
  13. A placename:
  14. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English holle, hoole (“hull, hold of a ship, ship”), of uncertain origin. Possibly a variant and special use of Etymology 1 above, conformed to hull. Alternatively, a variant of Middle English hole, hoole, holle (“hiding place, lair, den, shelter, compartment”, literally “hole, hollow”), related to Middle Dutch and Dutch hol (“hole, ship's cargo hold”). More at hole.

  1. The body or frame of a vessel, such as a ship or plane.

    VVhen you haue berthed or brought her [the ship] vp to the planks, vvhich are thoſe thicke timbers vvhich goeth fore and aft on each ſide, vvhereon doth lie the beames of the firſt Orlop, vvhich is the firſt floore to ſupport the plankes doth couer the Hovvle, thoſe are great croſſe timbers, that keepes the ſhip ſides aſunder, the maine beame is euer next the maine maſt, […]

    Deep in their hulls our deadly bullets light, / And through the yielding planks a passage find.

  2. The smallest set that possesses a particular property (such as convexity) and contains every point of A; slightly more formally, the intersection of all sets which possess the specified property and of which A is a subset.

    The orthogonal convex hull of an orthogonal polygon is the smallest orthogonally convex polygon that encloses the original polygon.

    holomorphically convex hull; affine hull; injective hull

verb

Etymology: From Middle English holle, hoole (“hull, hold of a ship, ship”), of uncertain origin. Possibly a variant and special use of Etymology 1 above, conformed to hull. Alternatively, a variant of Middle English hole, hoole, holle (“hiding place, lair, den, shelter, compartment”, literally “hole, hollow”), related to Middle Dutch and Dutch hol (“hole, ship's cargo hold”). More at hole.

  1. To drift; to be carried by the impetus of wind or water on the ship's hull alone, with sails furled.

    We goe not, but we are carried: as things that flote, now gliding gently, now hulling violently, according as the water is, either stormy or calme.

    […] Thus hulling in The wild sea of my conscience, I did steer Toward this remedy, whereupon we are Now present here together:

  2. To hit (a ship) in the hull with cannon fire etc.

    During this action, we had not a man killed or wounded, although the enemy often hulled us, and once, in particular, a shot coming into one of our ports, dismounted one of our guns between decks […]