bilge

bilge

1. Nautical the parts of a vessel's hull where the vertical sides curve inwards to form the bottom

2. the parts of a vessel between the lowermost floorboards and the bottom

3. the dirty water that collects in a vessel's bilge

4. the widest part of the belly of a barrel or cask

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

bilge

[bilj]

(naval architecture)

Part of the underwater body of a ship between the flat of the bottom and the straight vertical sides.

Internally, the lowest part of the hull, next to the keelson.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.