hulk
UK[hʌlk]US[hʌlk]
n
A very large, heavy, and often awkward person or thing.
n
The body of an old ship that is no longer used for sailing.
Etymology
The word 'hulk' has a long and winding journey from the sea to modern language. It entered Old English as 'hulc', referring to a light, fast ship, likely borrowed from Middle Dutch 'hulk' or Old Norse 'húlkr'. This nautical term is thought to have even earlier roots in the Greek 'holkás', meaning a ship that is towed. Over centuries, the meaning shifted dramatically from a swift vessel to the discarded, empty shell of a ship left to rot in port. From this image of a massive, useless, and abandoned structure, the term broadened in the 17th century to describe any bulky, unwieldy person or object, cementing its modern figurative sense.
Analysis
The word 'hulk' is a simplex word of Old English origin. It functions as a complete lexical unit.
Examples
The old warehouse stood like a dark hulk against the skyline.
They used a decommissioned hulk as a floating storage facility.
He moved with the slow, deliberate pace of a hulk.