bulge Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings
    protrusion; extrusion; gibbousness; hump; prominence; bump; swelling; excrescence; jut; gibbosity; protuberance.
    • the gun in his pocket made an obvious bulge
    • the hump of a camel
    • he stood on the rocky prominence
    • the occipital protuberance was well developed
    • the bony excrescence between its horns
  2. verb swell or protrude outwards
    protrude; pouch.
    • His stomach bulged after the huge meal
  3. verb bulge out; form a bulge outward, or be so full as to appear to bulge
    bag.
  4. verb bulge outward
    bug out; pop; come out; start; pop out; protrude; bulge out.
    • His eyes popped
  5. verb cause to bulge or swell outwards
    bulk.

WordNet

Bulge noun
Etymology
OE. bulge a swelling; cf. AS. belgan to swell, OSw. bulgja, Icel. bolginn swollen, OHG. belgan to swell, G. bulge leathern sack, Skr. bh to be large, strong; the root meaning to swell. Cf. Bilge, Belly, Billow, Bouge, n.
Definitions
  1. The bilge or protuberant part of a cask.
  2. A swelling, protuberant part; a bending outward, esp. when caused by pressure; as, a bulge in a wall.
  3. (Naut.) The bilge of a vessel. See Bilge, 2.
Bulge intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Bulged ; present participle & verbal noun Bulging
Definitions
  1. To swell or jut out; to bend outward, as a wall when it yields to pressure; to be protuberant; as, the wall bulges.
  2. To bilge, as a ship; to founder.
    And scattered navies bulge on distant shores. Broome.

Webster 1913