1
: the bulging part of a cask or barrel
2
a
: the part of the underwater body of a ship between the flat of the bottom and the vertical topsides
b
: the lowest point of a ship's inner hull
3
: stale or worthless remarks or ideas
Synonyms
Noun
- applesauce [slang]
- balderdash
- baloney
- boloney
- beans
- blah
- blah-blah
- blarney
- blather
- blatherskite
- blither
- bosh
- bull [slang]
- bunk
- bunkum
- buncombe
- claptrap
- codswallop [British]
- crapola [slang]
- crock
- drivel
- drool
- fiddle
- fiddle-faddle
- fiddlesticks
- flannel [British]
- flapdoodle
- folderol
- falderal
- folly
- foolishness
- fudge
- garbage
- guff
- hogwash
- hokeypokey
- hokum
- hoodoo
- hooey
- horsefeathers [slang]
- humbug
- humbuggery
- jazz
- malarkey
- malarky
- moonshine
- muck
- nerts [slang]
- nonsense
- nuts
- piffle
- poppycock
- punk
- rot
- rubbish
- senselessness
- silliness
- slush
- stupidity
- taradiddle
- tarradiddle
- tommyrot
- tosh
- trash
- trumpery
- twaddle
Examples of bilge in a Sentence
Noun
That magazine prints a lot of bilge about celebrities.
tried to justify his unhinged tirade with a lot of stale and insincere bilge
Recent Examples on the Web
Alexa Gagosz, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Aug. 2023
The 1,000 artifacts found on the bilge — lice combs, a silver French coin, rat droppings, pointy shoes with curly toes, flowering heather, a helmet with a Latin inscription — have also been put under the microscope.
—William Booth, Washington Post, 11 June 2023
Purpose Batteries have three main uses on a boat: starting the outboard engine, fueling the electric trolling motor or powering all of the bilge pumps, aerators, lights and electronics found onboard.
—Randy Zellers, Field & Stream, 10 Apr. 2023
Group Size 27: The standard battery size for most bass boats for both the deep-cycle trolling motor batteries and dual-purpose starting batteries that also run basic boat electronics, bilge pumps and lights.
—Randy Zellers, Field & Stream, 10 Apr. 2023
There is also a cinema located in the bilge.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 12 July 2022
The bilge, the conspiracies theories.
—Oliver Staley, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2021
The bilge is essentially a collection space for the ship’s drainage system where wastewater is stored until it can safely be processed and discharged, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
—Andrew Dyer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Oct. 2022
There's also added entertainment in the form of a cinema, which will be erected in the bilge deck in order to take advantage of the dark environment and ensure the best possible on board viewing experience.
—Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN, 5 Aug. 2022
See More
Noun
This kind of oily bilge water typically contains oil contamination from the operation and cleaning of the ship’s machinery, according to the Justice Department.
—Alexa Gagosz, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Aug. 2023
The 1,000 artifacts found on the bilge — lice combs, a silver French coin, rat droppings, pointy shoes with curly toes, flowering heather, a helmet with a Latin inscription — have also been put under the microscope.
—William Booth, Washington Post, 11 June 2023
Purpose Batteries have three main uses on a boat: starting the outboard engine, fueling the electric trolling motor or powering all of the bilge pumps, aerators, lights and electronics found onboard.
—Randy Zellers, Field & Stream, 10 Apr. 2023
Group Size 27: The standard battery size for most bass boats for both the deep-cycle trolling motor batteries and dual-purpose starting batteries that also run basic boat electronics, bilge pumps and lights.
—Randy Zellers, Field & Stream, 10 Apr. 2023
There is also a cinema located in the bilge.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 12 July 2022
The bilge, the conspiracies theories.
—Oliver Staley, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2021
The bilge is essentially a collection space for the ship’s drainage system where wastewater is stored until it can safely be processed and discharged, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
—Andrew Dyer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Oct. 2022
There's also added entertainment in the form of a cinema, which will be erected in the bilge deck in order to take advantage of the dark environment and ensure the best possible on board viewing experience.
—Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN, 5 Aug. 2022
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bilge.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Phrases Containing bilge
Dictionary Entries Near bilge
Cite this Entry
“Bilge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bilge. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.
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Kids Definition
bilge
1 of 2 noun1
: the bulging part of a cask or barrel
2
: the part of a ship's hull between the bottom and the point where the sides begin to rise nearly straight up
bilge
2 of 2 verb
bilged; bilging
: to become damaged in the bilge
More from Merriam-Webster on bilge
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about bilge
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