'The hulks' definitions:
Definition of 'The hulks'
From: GCIDE
- Hulk \Hulk\, n. [OE. hulke a heavy ship, AS. hulc a light, swift ship; akin to D. hulk a ship of burden, G. holk, OHG. holcho; perh. fr. LL. holcas, Gr. ?, prop., a ship which is towed, fr. ? to draw, drag, tow. Cf. Wolf, Holcad.]
- 1. The body of a ship or decked vessel of any kind; esp., the body of an old vessel laid by as unfit for service. "Some well-timbered hulk." --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
- 2. A heavy ship of clumsy build. --Skeat. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Anything bulky or unwieldly. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 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. [1913 Webster]