- bilge
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/bilj/, n., v., bilged, bilging.n.1. Naut.a. either of the rounded areas that form the transition between the bottom and the sides on the exterior of a hull.b. Also, bilges. (in a hull with a double bottom) an enclosed area between frames at each side of the floors, where seepage collects.c. Also called bilge well. a well into which seepage drains to be pumped away.d. Also called bilge water. seepage accumulated in bilges.3. the widest circumference or belly of a cask.v.i.4. Naut.a. to leak in the bilge.b. (of white paint) to turn yellow.5. to bulge or swell out.v.t.6. Naut. to damage (a hull bottom) so as to create an entry for seawater.[1505-15; perh. var. of BULGE]
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▪ emperor of Mongoliaalso spelled Bilgä, Wade-Giles romanization P'i-chia, or Mo-chi-lien, Pinyin Pijia, or Mojiliandied 734khagan, or great khan, of Mongolia from 716 until his death. His name literally translates as “Wise Emperor.”Bilge assumed leadership of the T'u-chüeh, a tribe of Turks in control of southern Central Asia, when his brother instigated a palace coup against the old ruler. When the T'ang emperor Hsüan Tsung (Xuanzong) refused his offer of an alliance, Bilge decimated the Chinese army, forcing them to sue for peace in 721. Bilge is even better known, however, for advising his successors that the power of the T'u-chüeh came from their nomadic life and that to settle in agricultural communities on the Chinese border would weaken them.* * *
Universalium. 2010.