bulge

bulge
\ \ [13] Etymologically, bulge and budget are the same word, and indeed when English first acquired bulge it was as a noun, with, like budget, the sense ‘pouch’. It came from Old French bouge ‘leather bag’, a descendant of Latin bulga, which may have been of Gaulish origin (medieval Irish bolg ‘bag’ has been compared). The word’s present-day connotations of ‘swelling’ and ‘protruding’ presumably go back to an early association of ‘pouches’ with ‘swelling up when filled’ (compare the case of bellows and belly, which originally meant ‘bag’, and came from a source which meant ‘swell’), but curiously, apart from an isolated instance around 1400 when bulge is used for a ‘hump on someone’s back’, there is no evidence for this meaning in English before the 17th century. Additionally, from the 17th to the 19th centuries bulge was used for the ‘bottom of a ship’s hull’; it has now been superseded in this sense by bilge [15], which may well be a variant form.
\ \ Cf.⇒ BILGE, BUDGET

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Bulge — (b[u^]lj), n. [OE. bulge a swelling; cf. AS. belgan to swell, OSw. bulgja, Icel. b[=o]lginn swollen, OHG. belgan to swell, G. bulge leathern sack, Skr. b[.r]h to be large, strong; the root meaning to swell. Cf. {Bilge}, {Belly}, {Billow}, {Bouge} …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bulge — vb Bulge, jut, stick out, protuberate, protrude, project, overhang, beetle mean to extend outward beyond the usual and normal line. Bulge suggests a swelling out in an excessive or abnormal fashion; it may be used when the impression to be given… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Bulge — Bulge, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Bulged}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Bulging}.] 1. To swell or jut out; to bend outward, as a wall when it yields to pressure; to be protuberant; as, the wall bulges. [1913 Webster] 2. To bilge, as a ship; to founder. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bulge — ● bulge nom masculin (anglais bulge, bosse) Compartiment aménagé à l extérieur de la carène d un navire pour éloigner de celle ci le point d explosion d une torpille …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Bulge — →Battle of the Bulge. the …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • bulge — [n] swollen object appendage, bagginess, blob, bump, bunch, bunching, convexity, dilation, distention, excess, excrescence, gibbosity, growth, hump, intumescence, jut, lump, nodulation, nodule, outgrowth, outthrust, projection, prominence,… …   New thesaurus

  • Bulge — Bulge, Lederschlauch zum Ausschöpfen von Wasser oder zum Fortschaffen von Erzen; Bulgenkunst, Wasserhebewerk mit Ledereimern an endloser Kette …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • bulge — index project (extend beyond) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • bulge — (n.) c.1200, from O.Fr. bouge wallet, pouch, leather bag (see BUDGET (Cf. budget)). Sense of swelling is first recorded 1620s. The verb is first recorded 1670s. Related: Bulged; bulging. BILGE (Cf. Bilge) (q.v.) may be a nautical variant …   Etymology dictionary

  • bulge — ► NOUN 1) a rounded swelling distorting a flat surface. 2) Military a piece of land projecting outwards from an otherwise regular line. 3) informal a temporary increase. ► VERB 1) swell or protrude to an unnatural extent. 2) be full of and… …   English terms dictionary

  • bulge — [bulj] n. [ME < OFr bouge: see BUDGE2] 1. an outward swelling; protuberance 2. a projecting part, as a military salient ☆ 3. Informal a sudden increase in size, value, etc. ☆ 4. Informal advantage or margin of advantage vi., vt …   English World dictionary

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