Bulk Definition

bŭlk
bulked, bulking, bulks, bulkiest
noun
bulks
Size, mass, or volume, esp. if great.
Webster's New World
The main mass or body of something; largest part or portion.
The bulk of one's fortune.
Webster's New World
Soft, bulky matter of a kind that passes through the intestines without being absorbed and aids in elimination.
Webster's New World

(bodybuilding) Excess body mass, especially muscle.

Wiktionary
A projecting framework or stall built as the front of a shop.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
verb
bulked, bulking, bulks
To form into a mass.
Webster's New World
To have size or importance.
To bulk large in the mind.
Webster's New World
To make bulge; stuff.
Webster's New World
To increase in size, importance, etc.
Webster's New World
To make (something) form into a mass.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
adjective
bulkiest
Total; aggregate.
Webster's New World
Being large in mass, quantity, or volume.
A bulk buy; a bulk mailing.
American Heritage
Not put up in individual packages.
Webster's New World
Designating or of mail comprising presorted, identical items mailed in quantity, as catalogs.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
idiom
in bulk
  • Unpackaged; loose.
  • In large numbers, amounts, or volume.
American Heritage
in bulk
  • not put up in individual packages
  • in large amounts; in great volume
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Bulk

Noun

Singular:
bulk
Plural:
bulks

Adjective

Base Form:
bulk
Superlative:
bulkiest

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Bulk

  • in bulk
  • in bulk

Origin of Bulk

  • From Middle English bolke (“a heap, cargo, hold”), from Old Norse búlki (“the freight or the cargo of a ship”), from Proto-Germanic *bulkô (“beam, pile, heap”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhelǵ- (“beam, pile, prop”), related to Icelandic búlkast (“to be bulky”), Swedish dialectal bulk (“a bunch”), Danish bulk (“bump, knob”). Conflated with Middle English bouk (“belly, trunk”), from Old English būc (“belly, stomach, pitcher”), from Proto-Germanic *būkaz (“belly, body”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhōw- (“to blow, swell”), related to Dutch buik (“belly”), German Bauch (“belly, stomach”), Swedish buk (“belly, abdomen”). More at bouk, bucket.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English perhaps partly alteration of bouk belly, trunk of the body (from Old English būc) and partly from Old Norse bulki cargo, heap bhel-2 in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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