bilge

views updated May 21 2018

bilge / bilj/ • n. the area on the outer surface of a ship's hull where the bottom curves to meet the vertical sides. ∎  bilgewater. ∎ fig., inf. nonsense; rubbish: romantic bilge dreamed up by journalists.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

bilge

views updated May 23 2018

bilge bottom of a ship's hull XV; filth collecting there XIX (cf. bilge water XVIII). prob. var. of BULGE, used in the same senses.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

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