bulge
/bʌldʒ
/noun
1A rounded swelling which distorts an otherwise flat surface: the telltale bulge of a concealed weapon...
- The rounded bulge of its roof was visible above the dry-stone dyke.
- The hernia may look like a bulge or swelling in the groin area.
- They calculate that the plume's buoyancy, as inferred by seismic imaging, is just enough to produce a bulge in the overlying surface that matches the superswell in size and height.
Synonyms
swelling, bump, lump, protuberance, protrusion, prominence, projection, eruption, convexity
rare intumescence
1.1 Military A piece of land which projects outwards from an otherwise regular line: the advance created an eastward-facing bulge in the line...
- This is particularly true along the boundaries of the crescent-shaped Islamic bloc of nations from the bulge of Africa to Central Asia.
- The larger part of the main forces belonged to the 10th army concentrated in the central part of the WSMD in the Bialystok bulge area.
- The Germans planned powerful attacks from the areas near Orel and Belgorod toward Kursk to surround and destroy the Soviet forces within the bulge.
2 [in singular] informal An unusual temporary increase in number or size: a bulge in the birth rate...
- We who were born in the mid 50's are the biggest bulge of the baby boom cohort.
- As the demographics I discussed earlier change, and as the baby boomers retire and the bulge flows through, there will be a huge increase in the cost of New Zealand superannuation.
- That's a long time - long enough to weather most of the baby-boomer bulge.
Synonyms
surge, upsurge, rise, increase, escalation, jump, leap, boost, intensification, augmentation
verb [no object]
1Swell or protrude to an incongruous extent: the veins in his neck bulged (as adjective bulging) he stared with bulging eyes...
- He could feel the blood pumping through the veins that were starting to bulge out of the neck muscles.
- Sometimes it can be genuinely disabling without the right treatment, if a nerve is trapped or a disc is bulging.
- Its order books are bulging and profits are up 70% on the back of a soaring aerospace market.
Synonyms
swell, swell out, puff up/out, stick out, balloon, balloon up/out, fill out, bag, belly;
project, protrude, jut (out), stand out, be prominent;
expand, inflate, distend, dilate, enlarge, bloat
rare intumesce, tumefy
1.1Be full of and distended with: a briefcase bulging with documents...
- Tony must feel like a man who has a wallet bulging with notes in one hand and a clutch of pressing bills in the other.
- Newspapers bulge with travel advertisements and articles telling us about the wonders of the world.
- He was carrying several shopping bags, bulging with packets and tins.
Derivatives
bulgingly
- Kelly's face is cut and bruised and she has a bulgingly livid black eye which has, horribly, added about a third to the size of her face.
- They are bulgingly huge and really dark.
- I handed in my dissertation two weeks before the birth of my little boy - a bulgingly visible deadline to work to!
bulgy
/ adjective (bulgier, bulgiest) ...- The lobby has bulgy sofas and an open wood fire; you can eat your tea and scones here, or in the equally cosy sitting room.
- The astronauts end up with bulgy faces, sinus congestion, and a lot of edema in the upper body.
- It's better than weight training, because it lengthens your muscles rather than making them bulgy.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French boulge, from Latin bulga (see budget). The original meaning was 'wallet or bag', later 'a ship's bilge' (early 17th century); other senses presumably derived from association with the shape of a full bag.
budget from Late Middle English:
When the British Chancellor of the Exchequer holds up the battered case containing details of his budget speech, he may or may not know that he is making a gesture towards the origin of the word. A budget was originally a pouch or wallet. The word came from French in the late Middle Ages, and goes back to Latin bulga ‘leather sack, bag’, from which English also gets bulge (Middle English).