bulging

adjective bulg·ing \ ˈbəl-jiŋ also ˈbu̇l- \

|Updated on: 8 Jun 2018

Definition of bulging

1 : swelling or thrusting out from a surrounding or adjacent surface : protuberant

bulging eyes

bulging muscles

2 : swollen with contents

bulging pockets

a bulging wallet

There were cardboard boxes piled up on the curb along with four bulging black plastic bags.
—Sue Grafton

Recent Examples of bulging from the Web

Portugal The European champion relies on Cristiano Ronaldo for quite a bit, a lot, er, pretty much everything, and the big star with the big ego would love to add a World Cup title to his bulging trophy cabinet.

— martin rogers, USA TODAY, "World Cup: Ranking all 32 teams, from hopeless to hopefuls," 22 May 2018
The disease – which Elliott was diagnosed with in 2008 – first began affecting her motor skills, followed by a string of symptoms: dizzy spells, lumps in her throat, mood swings, hair loss, a fast heart rate and bulging eyes.

— ana calderone, PEOPLE.com, "Missy Elliott Is Glowing After Giving Up Bread and Soda for 4 Months," 10 May 2018
At this point there are a multitude of procedures that will improve the bulging areas of your body.

— dr. carlos wolf, miamiherald, "Tummy tucks work well, but so do many minimally invasive procedures | Miami Herald," 23 Apr. 2018
Dickerson, who missed last season due to a bulging disc that required surgery, had hoped rest and rehab would be enough.

— kevin acee, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Padres' Dickerson to have season-ending surgery for second straight year," 21 Mar. 2018
The 47-year-old achieved this without the bulging financial muscle of his direct competition - his side is dwarfed significantly by the money at the disposal of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

— SI.com, "FanView: Why Diego Simeone Could Be Just What Arsenal Need in the Post Arsène Wenger Era," 26 Apr. 2018
The suspect was described by police as a man in his early twenties, 5 feet 9 inches, 160 pounds, with bulging eyes.

— christina tkacik, baltimoresun.com, "Johns Hopkins investigating indecent exposure incident," 11 Apr. 2018
Humans are preprogrammed to want to nurture anything with baby-like features—namely, a big bulging forehead, large, low-set eyes and round cheeks.

— lucy cooke, WSJ, "The Un-Cuddly Truth About Pandas," 6 Apr. 2018
Two years ago, a University of Illinois researcher, inspired by the slashing, dashing underwater warrior, mimicked its bulging eyes to create a camera able to record polarized light and better detect some cancers.

— jenny staletovich, miamiherald, "Lost at sea? This camera mimics way shrimp see and might help rescuers find you | Miami Herald," 4 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bulging.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.