What is "the hulks"

Hulk \Hulk\, n. [OE. hulke a heavy ship, AS. hulc a light, swift ship; akin to D. hulk a ship of burden, G. holk, OHG. holcho; perh. fr. LL. holcas, Gr. ?, prop., a ship which is towed, fr. ? to draw, drag, tow. Cf. Wolf, Holcad.]

1. The body of a ship or decked vessel of any kind; esp., the body of an old vessel laid by as unfit for service. ``Some well-timbered hulk.''
   --Spenser.

2. A heavy ship of clumsy build.
   --Skeat.

3. Anything bulky or unwieldly.
   --Shak.

   Shear hulk, an old ship fitted with an apparatus to fix or take out the masts of a ship.

   The hulks, old or dismasted ships, formerly used as prisons. [Eng.]
   --Dickens.