# hulk

> English word · Noun · IPA /hʌlk/ · frequency rank #10,864

## Definitions
1. A large ship used for transportation; (more generally) a large ship that is difficult to manoeuvre.
2. A non-functional but floating ship, usually stripped of equipment and rigging, and often put to other uses such as accommodation or storage.
3. A large structure with a dominating presence.
4. A big (and possibly clumsy) person.
5. A big (and possibly clumsy) person.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **hut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hut)
- **hum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hum)
- **hun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hun)
- **Hur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hur)
- **Hus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hus)
- **Huw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-huw)
- **hurt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hurt)
- **hunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hunt)
- **hung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hung)
- **hull** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hull)
- **hush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hush)
- **hump** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hump)
- **Hume** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hume)
- **huts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-huts)
- **hunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hunk)
- **Hurd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hurd)
- **hurl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hurl)
- **Huns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-huns)
- **husk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-husk)
- **Hutt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hulk-vs-hutt)

## Common misspellings (6)
`hhulk`, `hluk`, `hukl`, `hulkk`, `hullk`, `uhlk`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hulk