Hull

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Hull

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

noun and verb

Pronunciation

hull  /hʌl/

Definition

As a noun: the body or frame of a ship or aircraft, not including the mast, engines, superstructure, or fittings; the outer shell or body of a vessel; the dried calyx, pod, or husk of a fruit or seed. As a verb: to pierce the hull of a ship; to remove the hulls from seeds or grain.

Plain meaning

The hull of a ship is its main body — the shell that sits in the water and holds everything else. A hull-down ship is one so distant that only its mast and superstructure are visible above the horizon. The hull of a strawberry or a grain is the outer covering or calyx. To hull grain means to remove this outer covering.

Register

Technical in naval and aeronautical contexts (hull of a ship, hull breach, hull integrity); agricultural in the seed-husk sense (hull the strawberries). Hull-down is a nautical and military term for a vessel so distant only its superstructure is visible.