hull

Etymology 1

From Middle English hul, hulle, holle (“seed covering, hull of a ship”), from Old English hulu (“seed covering”), from Proto-Germanic *hul- (compare Dutch hul (“hood”), German Hülle, Hülse (“cover, veil”)), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, hide”); or possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kal- (“hard”) (compare Old Irish calad, calath (“hard”), Latin callus, callum (“rough skin”), Old Church Slavonic калити (kaliti, “to cool, harden”)). For the sense development, compare French coque (“nutshell; ship's hull”), Ancient Greek φάσηλος (phásēlos, “bean pod; yacht”).

noun

1. The outer covering of a fruit or seed.
2. Any covering.

verb

1. To remove the outer covering of a fruit or seed.
   She sat on the back porch hulling peanuts.

Etymology 2

From Middle English holle, hoole (“hull, hold of a ship, ship”), of uncertain origin. Possibly a variant and special use of Etymology 1 above, conformed to hull. Alternatively, a variant of Middle English hole, hoole, holle (“hiding place, lair, den, shelter, compartment”, literally “hole, hollow”), related to Middle Dutch and Dutch hol (“hole, ship's cargo hold”). More at hole.

noun

1. The body or frame of a vessel, such as a ship or plane.
   1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis, Quatrain 60, 1808, The Works of John Dryden, Volume 9, page 115, Deep in their hulls our deadly bullets light, / And through the yielding planks a passage find.
2. (mathematics, geometry, of a set A) The smallest set that possesses a particular property (such as convexity) and contains every point of A; slightly more formally, the intersection of all sets which possess the specified property and of which A is a subset.
   The orthogonal convex hull of an orthogonal polygon is the smallest orthogonally convex polygon that encloses the original polygon.
   holomorphically convex hull; affine hull; injective hull

verb

1. (obsolete, intransitive, nautical) To drift; to be carried by the impetus of wind or water on the ship's hull alone, with sails furled.
   In this virtuous voyage of life hull not about like the ark, without the use of rudder, mast, or sail, and bound for no port. 1716, Thomas Browne, edited by Samuel Johnson, Christian Morals, 2nd edition, London: J. Payne, published 1756, Part I, p. 8
2. (transitive) To hit (a ship) in the hull with cannon fire etc.
   During this action, we had not a man killed or wounded, although the enemy often hulled us, and once, in particular, a shot coming into one of our ports, dismounted one of our guns between decks […] 1774, George Shelvocke, “The Voyage of Captain Shelvock Round the World”, in David Henry, editor, An Historical Account of All the Voyages Round the World, Performed by English Navigators, volume 2, London: F. Newbery, page 163