bulk

Use bulk in a sentence

noun

The definition of bulk is a large portion, great size or big volume.

An example of bulk is the overall size of a large football player.

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"bulk." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/BULK>.

APA Style

bulk. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/BULK

bulk

size, mass, or volume, esp. if great
the main mass or body of something; largest part or portion: the bulk of one's fortune
soft, bulky matter of a kind that passes through the intestines without being absorbed and aids in elimination

Origin of bulk

ME, heap, cargo from Old Norse bulki, a heap, ship's cargo; probably from Indo-European base an unverified form bhel-: see ball

to form into a mass
to increase in size, importance, etc.
to have size or importance: to bulk large in the mind

to make (something) form into a mass
to make bulge; stuff
to give greater bulk, or size, to

total; aggregate
not put up in individual packages
designating or of mail comprising presorted, identical items mailed in quantity, as catalogs

bulk Idioms

in bulk

not put up in individual packages
in large amounts; in great volume

Archaic a projecting framework or stall built as the front of a shop

Origin of bulk

Middle English balk from Old Norse balkr, partition, wall; akin to balk

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MLA Style

"bulk." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/BULK>.

APA Style

bulk. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/BULK

bulk

noun

Size, mass, or volume, especially when very large.
a. A distinct mass or portion of matter, especially a large one: the dark bulk of buildings against the sky.
b. The body of a human, especially when large or muscular.
The major portion or greater part: “The great bulk of necessary work can never be anything but painful” ( Bertrand Russell )
See fiber.
Thickness of paper or cardboard in relation to weight.
A ship's cargo.

verb

bulked, bulk·ing, bulks

verb

intransitive

To be or appear to be massive in terms of size, volume, or importance; loom: Safety considerations bulked large during development of the new spacecraft.
To grow or increase in size or importance.
To cohere or form a mass: Certain paper bulks well.

verb

transitive

To cause to swell or expand.
To cause to cohere or form a mass.

adjective

Being large in mass, quantity, or volume: a bulk buy; a bulk mailing.

Phrasal Verbs: bulk up To gain weight by gaining muscle: dietary supplements that helped the weightlifters bulk up.

Origin of bulk

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

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"bulk." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/BULK>.

APA Style

bulk. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/BULK

Noun

(countable and uncountable, plural bulks)

Size, mass or volume.
The major part of something.
The result of water retained by fibre.
(uncountable, transport) Unpackaged goods when transported in large volumes, e.g. coal, ore or grain.
(countable) a cargo or any items moved or communicated in the manner of cargo.
(bodybuilding) Excess body mass, especially muscle.
(brane cosmology) A hypothetical higher-dimensional space within which our own four-dimensional universe may exist.

Adjective

(not comparable)

being large in size, mass or volume (of goods, etc.)

Verb

(third-person singular simple present bulks, present participle bulking, simple past and past participle bulked)

To appear or seem to be, as to bulk or extent.
To grow in size; to swell or expand.

Origin

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.