bulk

BULK/bʌlk/

19 meanings of bulk

1
nouncountable or uncountable
The overall size of something, especially how much space it takes up.
Like a big pillow that takes up lots of room even though it is light.
The sheer bulk of the wardrobe made it hard to move upstairs.
Despite its bulk, the package weighed almost nothing.
Similarsize, volume, mass, magnitude
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2
noununcountable
Loose goods like coal, grain, or ore that are carried in large amounts without packaging.
Like pouring loose rice into a big container instead of using small bags.
Coal and grain travel as bulk in huge cargo ships.
The dock workers poured the bulk straight into the hold.
Note
3
nouncountable or uncountable
The biggest or main part of something.
Like the biggest slice of a cake that is almost the whole thing.
The bulk of the report dealt with safety concerns.
Rent takes up the bulk of my monthly income.
Similarmajority
4
adjective
Sold or made in large amounts, as goods often are.
Like the giant family-size box instead of a small one.
The store sells rice in bulk bags to save money.
We bought a bulk pack of water bottles for the trip.
Similarlarge, wholesale
5
adjective
Counted all together as one total.
Like adding up every cost into one big final number.
We paid one bulk amount for everything in the cart.
The bulk total came to two hundred dollars.
Similartotal, aggregate, overall, combined
6
nouncountable or uncountable
Most of a group or amount, or the larger share.
Like when most people in a room raise their hands.
The bulk of the team agreed to the new plan.
They sold the bulk of the apples at the market.
Similarmajority
Oppositeminority
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7
nouncountable or uncountable
Extra body weight, especially muscle built up from working out.
Like a tire getting fuller and rounder, but it's muscle being added.
He put on a lot of bulk after months at the gym.
Eating more helped her gain bulk for the new season.
Similarmass, muscle, size, weight, brawn
Note
8
verbintransitive
To put on body weight on purpose, usually muscle, by eating and training.
Like slowly filling a backpack to make it heavier, except the weight is muscle.
He wants to bulk before summer arrives.
Many athletes bulk during the off-season.
Oppositecut
9
nouncountable or uncountable
A very big body or structure.
Like a mountain that seems to take up the whole sky.
The elephant's huge bulk filled the whole doorway.
A dark bulk rose slowly out of the water.
Similarmass, hulk, body
10
nouncountable or uncountable
The part of food that the body cannot digest, which helps the gut keep working.
Like the rough part of food that sweeps through and helps clean out your insides.
Eating vegetables gives your meals more bulk.
Bran cereal is a good way to add bulk to breakfast.
Similarfiber, roughage

11
nouncountable or uncountable
A stretch of time when someone eats more and trains hard to build muscle.
Like watering and feeding a plant a lot so it grows bigger and stronger.
He started a bulk to get bigger before summer.
During her bulk, she ate a lot more food than usual.
Oppositecut
Note
12
nouncountable
A load of goods carried together, like cargo on a ship.
Like a big pile of boxes loaded onto a truck all at once.
The ship carried a large bulk of grain across the sea.
Workers loaded the bulk onto the truck for delivery.
Similarshipment, consignment, load, cargo
13
nouncountable or uncountable
The main point or overall meaning of something said or written.
Like getting the main idea of a story even if you miss a few words.
The bulk of his speech was a plea to protect the forest.
I caught the bulk of her warning before the call cut out.
Similargist, substance, essence, thrust, core
14
verbintransitive
To grow bigger or swell up.
Like a sponge that grows bigger when it soaks up water.
The wet sponge began to bulk as it filled with water.
The river bulked after days of heavy rain.
Similarswell, expand, grow, bulge, billow
Oppositeshrink, contract
15
verbtransitive
To put or keep things together in one big amount.
Like pouring lots of rice loose into one big bin instead of small bags.
The warehouse will bulk the grain in huge silos.
They bulked the coal in open piles near the tracks.
Similarpool, heap, stockpile
16
nouncountable or uncountable
A possible larger space with extra dimensions that our universe might sit inside.
Like a thin sheet of paper floating inside a much bigger room.
Some scientists think our universe sits inside a much larger bulk.
Gravity might leak out of our world into the bulk around it.
Note
17
verbintransitive
To seem large or important in someone's mind.
Like a worry that feels bigger and bigger the more you think about it.
The exam began to bulk large in her thoughts.
Money worries bulked large for the family that year.
Similarloom, figure
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18
nounobsoletecountable or uncountable
The body of a person, especially the chest and trunk.
little Cupide stroue Within her bulke, because that she had woue The web that wrought Nastagio all his woe
1587, George Turberville, Tragical TalesHere, bulke means her body, especially the chest or trunk.
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19
verbobsoletetransitive
To make something bigger or fuller by adding more to it.
Like adding water to soup so there is more of it.
The cook would bulk the stew with extra barley.
They bulked the mattress with fresh straw each winter.
Note

Practice

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Origin

It came from Old Norse búlki, meaning a ship's cargo or freight.