noun
- Nautical.
- either of the rounded areas that form the transition between the bottom and the sides on the exterior of a hull.
- Also bilges.(in a hull with a double bottom) an enclosed area between frames at each side of the floors, where seepage collects.
- Also called bilge well.a well into which seepage drains to be pumped away.
- Also called bilge water.seepage accumulated in bilges.
- Slang. bilge water(def 2).
- the widest circumference or belly of a cask.
verb (used without object), bilged, bilg·ing.
- Nautical.
- to leak in the bilge.
- (of white paint) to turn yellow.
- to bulge or swell out.
verb (used with object), bilged, bilg·ing.
- Nautical. to damage (a hull bottom) so as to create an entry for seawater.
noun
- nautical the parts of a vessel’s hull where the vertical sides curve inwards to form the bottom
- (often plural) the parts of a vessel between the lowermost floorboards and the bottom
- Also called: bilge water the dirty water that collects in a vessel’s bilge
- informal silly rubbish; nonsense
- the widest part of the belly of a barrel or cask
verb
- (intr) nautical (of a vessel) to take in water at the bilge
- (tr) nautical to damage (a vessel) in the bilge, causing it to leak
1510s, “lowest internal part of a ship,” also used of the foulness which collects there; variant of bulge “ship’s hull,” also “leather bag,” from Old North French boulge “leather sack,” from Late Latin bulga “leather sack,” apparently from Gaulish bulga (see budget (n.)).