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HULL (in O.Eng. hulu, from helan, to cover, cf. Ger. Hiille, covering)
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HULL (in O.Eng. hulu, from helan, to cover, cf. Ger. Hiille, covering), the outer covering, pod, or shell of beans, peas, &c., also the enclosing envelope of a chrysalis. The word may be the same as " bull, " meaning the body of a ship without its masts or superstructure, &c., but in this sense the word is more usually connected with " hold," the interior cargo-carrying part of a vessel. This word was borrowed, as a nautical term, from the Dutch, hol (cognate with " hole "), the d being due to confusion with " to hold," " grasp " (O.Eng. healdan). The meanings of " hull " and " hold " are somewhat far apart, and the closest sense resemblance is to the word " hulk," which is not known till about a century later.