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
Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2024
Noisemakers, full revs to shallower water, radio call, check the bilges.
—Caroline Van Hemert, Outside Online, 9 July 2024
The commercial value of these cartilaginous appendages is so great that fishers won’t waste space in the bilges of vessels by keeping the entire fish.
—Angela Posada-Swafford, Discover Magazine, 28 June 2024
The employee had complained that the ship had a leak and needed repairs to its cargo hold bilge system before Maersk fired him in March 2021, according to OSHA.
—Lia Russell, Baltimore Sun, 27 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for bilge 
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show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Noun
California State Parks officials have begun additional exit inspections of boats at O’Neill Forebay, San Luis Reservoir and Los Banos Creek Reservoir to ensure all water is drained from livewells, bilges and outboard motors to prevent the spread of the mussels.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2024
Noisemakers, full revs to shallower water, radio call, check the bilges.
—Caroline Van Hemert, Outside Online, 9 July 2024
The commercial value of these cartilaginous appendages is so great that fishers won’t waste space in the bilges of vessels by keeping the entire fish.
—Angela Posada-Swafford, Discover Magazine, 28 June 2024
The employee had complained that the ship had a leak and needed repairs to its cargo hold bilge system before Maersk fired him in March 2021, according to OSHA.
—Lia Russell, Baltimore Sun, 27 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for bilge
Dictionary Entries Near bilge
Cite this Entry
“Bilge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bilge. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids 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
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