hull
n.the main body or outer shell of a ship or boat. It is the part that sits in the water and keeps the vessel floating.
n.the main body of a ship or other vessel, including the bottom, sides, and deck but excluding masts, engines, and rigging. In a mathematical context, it refers to the smallest convex set containing a given set of points.
“The ship's hull is painted bright red.”
“Inspectors found several small cracks in the wooden hull that required immediate repair before the ship could sail.”
“Modern icebreakers are designed with a reinforced steel hull and a specific shape that allows the vessel to ride up onto the ice and crush it with its own weight.”
Commonly used in nautical contexts; in mathematics, it is often preceded by a descriptor like 'convex'.
“Scientists analyzing a 2,200-year-old Roman shipwreck found that its hull was coated with pine tar and, in one area, a mixture of tar and beeswax.”
“By the time the Revolution began in the spring of 1775, Bushnell had nearly finished the hull of his invention.”
Common in sport writing
The town in England is Inherited from Middle English Hull, Hul, Hulle, traditionally derived from Proto-Brythonic hʉl, from Proto-Celtic soulos, from Proto-Indo-European sew- (“to press”); Breeze instead suggests derivation from hula, plural of hulu (“hut”). Chaucer's Hulle (for expected Hul, *Hule) is presumably a hypercorrect Southern form. The surname is either from the English town or Middle English hulle, western variant of hylle (“hill”); many other place names are ultimately from the surname.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.