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n. 1. A protruding part; an outward curve or swelling. 2. Nautical A bilge. 3. A sudden, usually temporary increase in number or quantity: The baby boom created a bulge in school enrollment. v. bulged, bulg·ing, bulg·es v.intr. To swell, protrude, or curve outward: a wall bulging after a flood; muscles bulging under a shirt. v.tr. To cause to bulge. [Middle English, pouch, from Old French bulge, bouge, from Latin bulga, bag, of Celtic origin; see bhelgh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] bulgi·ness n. bulgy adj. Synonyms: bulge, balloon, belly, jut, project, protrude These verbs mean to curve, spread, or extend outward past the normal or usual limit: a wallet bulging with money; a clown's pants that ballooned at the waist; a sail bellying in the wind; a boulder jutting from the hillside; a deck that projected from the house in back; eyes protruding from their sockets in astonishment. |
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