Library / English Dictionary

BULGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings

Example:

the bony excrescence between its horns

Synonyms:

bulge; bump; excrescence; extrusion; gibbosity; gibbousness; hump; jut; prominence; protrusion; protuberance; swelling

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("bulge" is a kind of...):

projection (any solid convex shape that juts out from something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bulge"):

frontal eminence (either prominence of the frontal bone above each orbit)

occipital protuberance (prominence on the outer surface of the occipital bone)

belly (a part that bulges deeply)

caput (a headlike protuberance on an organ or structure)

mogul (a bump on a ski slope)

nub; nubble (a small lump or protuberance)

snag (a sharp protuberance)

wart (any small rounded protuberance (as on certain plants or animals))

Derivation:

bulge (cause to bulge or swell outwards)

bulge (swell or protrude outwards)

bulge (bulge outward)

bulge (bulge out; form a bulge outward, or be so full as to appear to bulge)

bulgy (curving outward)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to bulge or swell outwards

Synonyms:

bulge; bulk

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "bulge" is one way to...):

swell (cause to become swollen)

Cause:

bulge; pouch; protrude (swell or protrude outwards)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

bulge (something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Swell or protrude outwards

Example:

His stomach bulged after the huge meal

Synonyms:

bulge; pouch; protrude

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "bulge" is one way to...):

change form; change shape; deform (assume a different shape or form)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bulge"):

bulk (stick out or up)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

bulge (something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Bulge outward

Example:

His eyes popped

Synonyms:

bug out; bulge; bulge out; come out; pop; pop out; protrude; start

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "bulge" is one way to...):

change form; change shape; deform (assume a different shape or form)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

bulge (something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Bulge out; form a bulge outward, or be so full as to appear to bulge

Synonyms:

bag; bulge

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "bulge" is one way to...):

jut; jut out; project; protrude; stick out (extend out or project in space)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bulge"):

protuberate (form a rounded prominence)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sentence example:

The streets bulge with crowds

Derivation:

bulge (something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Inflammation of one or more pouches or sacs that bulge out from the wall of a hollow organ, such as the colon.

(Diverticulitis, NCI Dictionary)

Diverticula are small pouches that bulge outward through the colon, or large intestine.

(Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

A hiatal hernia is a condition in which the upper part of the stomach bulges through an opening in the diaphragm.

(Hiatal Hernia, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

MRA may be used to check for aneurysms (a bulge in the blood vessel wall), blockages in the arteries, blood clots, and other blood vessel problems.

(MRA, NCI Dictionary)

“We draw! We draw!” cried Hawtayne, with his eyes still fixed upon the foam which hissed under the very bulge of the side.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The yellow cottage, standing back a little from the road, with its upper story bulging forward and a crisscross of black woodwork let into the plaster, is the one in which we lived.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A hernia happens when part of an internal organ or tissue bulges through a weak area of muscle.

(Hernia, NIH)

The bulging of an internal organ through a weak area or tear in the muscle or other tissue that holds it in place.

(Hernia, NCI Dictionary)

A small pouch or sac that bulges out from the wall of a hollow organ, such as the colon.

(Diverticulum, NCI Dictionary)

In babies, additional symptoms may include constant crying, poor feeding, body stiffness, and bulging in the soft spots of the skull.

(Encephalitis, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)