bulks

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of bulk.

   The shadowy bulks of the ships loomed through the harbor fog.

   Through the fog we could make out the gray bulks of the warehouses.

   Note

   A plural that suits one meaning of bulk best: a huge body or structure, like the looming shapes of ships or buildings seen as separate masses. When bulk means size, the major part, or dietary fiber, it usually behaves as a mass noun. The plural appears mainly when distinct masses are being counted. The same spelling also serves the verb form, as in a hill that bulks against the sky.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of bulk.

   The mountain bulks large on the horizon at sunset.

   This single issue bulks large in the upcoming election.

   Note

   Most familiar in the pairing bulks large, where something looms in size or importance: a mountain on the horizon, an issue in an election. That use takes no object, and neither do the senses of swelling or gaining body mass. With an object, it means putting or holding goods in bulk. The older sense of adding bulk to something is now obsolete.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2