bulge

Meaning

Noun

1. An object which is sticking out from a surface; a swelling, protuberant part; a bending outward, especially when caused by pressure.
2. The bilge or protuberant part of a cask.
3. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK) A rounded fleshy mass, such as on a camel or zebu.
4. The bilge of a vessel.
5. (colloquial) The outline of the penis visible through clothing.
6. (figuratively) A sudden rise in value or quantity.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To stick out from a surface without breaking it.
2. (intransitive) (of a container, etc.) To have the surface stretched by something pushing out; to swell; to belly.
3. (intransitive) To bilge, as a ship; to founder.

Synonyms

swell

protrude

swelling

protuberance

bump

protrusion

hump

lump

stick out

distend

inflate

prominence

bloat

expand

rise

bulging

knot

🪢

projection

project

pop out

belly

excrescence

bulge out

salient

swell up

gibbousness

jut

pop

extrusion

bulk

bag

eminence

distension

belly out

puff

salience

start

heave

become swollen

heap

grow

convexity

blister

come out

gibbosity

billow

knob

knuckle

pouch

👝

protuberate

Translations

bomber

bosse

bulto

protubérance

protuberancia

protuberância

bojo

Wulst

saliência

Beule

bombement

Wölbung

anschwellen

protuberanza

renflement

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bʌldʒ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: bulge

Cognate with French: bouge

Cognate with German: Balg

In summary

From Middle English bulge (“leather bag; hump”), from Old Northern French boulge (“leather bag”), from Late Latin bulga (“leather sack”), from Gaulish *bulga, *bulgos, from Proto-Celtic *bolgos (“sack, bag, stomach”). Cognate with bilge, belly, bellows, budget, French bouge, German Balg, etc. Doublet of budge, and from the same root as belly and bellows. See also budget.