hull, n. [OE. hul, hol, shell, husk, AS. hulu; akin to G. hÜlle covering, husk, case, hÜllen to cover, Goth. huljan to cover, AS. helan to hele, conceal. Hele, v. t., Hell.].

The outer covering of anything, particularly of a nut or of grain; the outer skin of a kernel; the husk. [1913 Webster]
The frame or body of a vessel, exclusive of her masts, yards, sails, and rigging. [1913 Webster]
"Deep in their hulls our deadly bullets light." [1913 Webster]

Hull down, said of a ship so distant that her hull is concealed by the convexity of the sea.

hull, v. t.

To strip off or separate the hull or hulls of; to free from integument; as, to hull corn. [1913 Webster]
To pierce the hull of, as a ship, with a cannon ball. [1913 Webster]

hull, v. i.

To toss or drive on the water, like the hull of a ship without sails. Shak. Milton. [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

hull, n. & v.
--n. the body or frame of a ship, airship, flying boat, etc.
--v.tr. pierce the hull of (a ship) with gunshot etc.

hull, n. & v.
--n.
1 the outer covering of a fruit, esp. the pod of peas and beans, the husk of grain, or the green calyx of a strawberry.
2 a covering.
--v.tr. remove the hulls from (fruit etc.).

Etymology

OE hulu ult. f. helan cover: cf. HELE

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THESAURUS

hull

argosy, bark, boat, body, boll, bottom, bran, bucket, burr, capsule, case, chaff, cod, corn shuck, cornhusk, craft, follicle, frame, framework, hooker, hulk, husk, jacket, keel, legume, legumen, leviathan, packet, palea, pease cod, peel, pericarp, pod, rind, seed pod, seed vessel, seedbox, seedcase, shell, ship, shuck, silique, skeleton, skin, slough, structure, tub, vessel, watercraft

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ROGET THESAURUS

hull

Whole

N whole, totality, integrity, totalness, entirety, ensemble, collectiveness, unity, completeness, indivisibility, indiscerptibility, integration, embodiment, integer, all, the whole, total, aggregate, one and all, gross amount, sum, sum total, tout ensemble, length and breadth of, Alpha and Omega, be all and end all, complex, complexus, lock stock and barrel, bulk, mass, lump, tissue, staple, body, compages, trunk, torso, bole, hull, hulk, skeleton greater part, major part, best part, principal part, main part, essential part, lion's share, Benjamin's mess, the long and the short, nearly, all, almost all, whole, total, integral, entire, complete, one, individual, unbroken, intact, uncut, undivided, unsevered, unclipped, uncropped, unshorn, seamless, undiminished, undemolished, undissolved, undestroyed, unbruised, indivisible, indissoluble, indissolvable, indiscerptible, wholesale, sweeping, comprehensive, wholly, altogether, totally, entirely, all, all in all, as a whole, wholesale, in a body, collectively, all put together, in the aggregate, in the lump, in the mass, in the gross, in the main, in the long run, en masse, as a body, on the whole, bodily, en bloc, in extenso, throughout, every inch, substantially, tout bien ou rien.

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