bilge

1 of 2

noun

ˈbilj 

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

bilge

2 of 2

verb

bilged; bilging

intransitive verb

: to become damaged in the bilge

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

Noun

An enchanting ballet performance A ballerina was filmed performing a dance on the edge of a cruise ship’s bilge, mere inches from Antarctica’s icy waters. —Alexandra Banner, CNN, 3 Feb. 2025

Fishing vessels, bilge well vessels, service vessels, and container ships will benefit daily from the tunnel. —David Nikel, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025

Musk and Ramaswamy have their hands full with the bureaucratic bilge that needs to be cut in D.C. —Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 16 Jan. 2025

All this bilge went into Arthur Kill, the 600-foot-wide shipping channel separating New Jersey from New York City’s Staten Island. —Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 25 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

probably modification of Middle French boulge, bouge leather bag, curved part — more at budget

First Known Use

Noun

1513, in the meaning defined at sense 2b

Verb

1728, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing bilge

• bilge keel

Kids Definition

bilge

1 of 2 noun

ˈbilj 

1

: 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