Bulge Meaning
/ˈbʌldʒ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn object which is sticking out from a surface; a swelling, protuberant part; a bending outward, especially when caused by pressure.
nounThe bilge or protuberant part of a cask.
Sentence Examples
Bill is really fighting the battle of the bulge.
The Germans suffered more than 100 000 casualties during the Battle of the Bulge.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After eating a huge meal, his belt began to ____ outward because his stomach had expanded so much.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He could see a small ____ in his pocket where he had hidden the key.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Haz sits in the trailer for 10 hours straight, eyes trained on the patrons. If he sees the makings of a drug deal or a fight, he notifies the club’s in-house security by walkie-talkie. It amazes him how indiscreet drug dealers can be—with the bulges in their socks and their melodramatic handovers—despite the presence of security guards."
— 2018 February, Robert Draper, “They are Watching You—and Everything Else on the Planet: Technology and Our Increasing Demand for Security have Put Us All under Surveillance. Is Privacy Becoming just a Memory?”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2018:
"The collapse happened within three weeks of an examining engineer observing that a bulge in the brickwork had increased since a previous inspection."
— 2024 February 21, “Network News: Safety changes recommended after train hits collapsed wall”, in RAIL, number 1003, page 19:
"Max looked down and sure as crap, his bulge was huge, and he started to stammer and stutter and without hesitation said, Holy crap Sandy, look at what you do to me."
— 2010, Micky Livingston, Seventeen Inches, →ISBN:
"As his bulge begins to swell once again, her hand strokes the length of it through his pants."
— 2012, D.H.Clark/I.B.Long, A Grasp for Life: The continuing story of Howard Walker, →ISBN, page 75:
"He walked right up to me, the knife poking him in the abdomen, just above his bulge."
— 2017, Dee Dawning, Extramarital, →ISBN:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After eating a huge meal, his belt began to ____ outward because his stomach had expanded so much.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He could see a small ____ in his pocket where he had hidden the key.