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Webster 1913 Edition

Bulk

Bulk

(bŭlk)
,
Noun.
[OE.
bulke
,
bolke
, heap; cf. Dan.
bulk
lump, clod, OSw.
bolk
crowd, mass, Icel.
b[GREEK]lkast
to be bulky. Cf.
Boll
,
Noun.
,
Bile
a boil,
Bulge
,
Noun.
]
1.
Magnitude of material substance; dimensions; mass; size;
as, an ox or ship of great
bulk
.
Against these forces there were prepared near one hundred ships; not so great of
bulk
indeed, but of a more nimble motion, and more serviceable.
Bacon.
2.
The main mass or body; the largest or principal portion; the majority;
as, the
bulk
of a debt
.
The
bulk
of the people must labor, Burke told them, “to obtain what by labor can be obtained.”
J. Morley.
3.
(Naut.)
The cargo of a vessel when stowed.
4.
The body.
[Obs.]
Shak.
My liver leaped within my
bulk
.
Turbervile.
Barrel bulk
.
See under
Barrel
.
–
To break bulk
(Naut.)
,
to begin to unload or more the cargo.
–
In bulk
,
in a mass; loose; not inclosed in separate packages or divided into separate parts; in such shape that any desired quantity may be taken or sold.
–
Laden in bulk
,
Stowed in bulk
,
having the cargo loose in the hold or not inclosed in boxes, bales, or casks.
–
Sale by bulk
,
a sale of goods as they are, without weight or measure.
Syn. – Size; magnitude; dimension; volume; bigness; largeness; massiveness.

Bulk

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Bulked
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Bulking
.]
To appear or seem to be, as to bulk or extent; to swell.
The fame of Warburton possibly
bulked
larger for the moment.
Leslie Stephen.

Bulk

,
Noun.
[Icel.
bālkr
a beam, partition. Cf.
Balk
,
Noun.
&
Verb.
]
A projecting part of a building.
[Obs.]
Here, stand behind this
bulk
.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Bulk

BULK

,
Noun.
1.
Magnitude of material substance; whole dimensions; size of a thing; as an ox or a ship of great bulk.
2.
The gross; the majority; the main mass or body; as the bulk of a debt; the bulk of a nation.
3.
Main fabric.
4.
The whole content of a ship's hood for the stowage of goods.
5.
A part of a building jutting out.
To break bulk, in seamen's language, is to begin to unload.
Laden in bulk, having the cargo loose in the hold, or not inclosed in boxes, bales or casks.

Definition 2024

bulk

bulk

English

Noun

bulk ‎(countable and uncountable, plural bulks)

  1. Size, mass or volume.
  2. The major part of something.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 12, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.
    • 2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in Guardian:
      I'm convinced that the nut's very nutritiousness is to blame for the dish's poor reputation. They're so dense that a loaf made primarily from nuts would be more suitable for slicing into energy bars and selling to mountaineering supply shops - hence the main bulk of a nut roast is generally some form of carbohydrate, intended to lighten the load.
  3. The result of water retained by fibre.
  4. (uncountable, transport) Unpackaged goods when transported in large volumes, e.g. coal, ore or grain.
  5. (countable) a cargo or any items moved or communicated in the manner of cargo.
  6. (bodybuilding) Excess body mass, especially muscle.
  7. (brane cosmology) A hypothetical higher-dimensional space within which our own four-dimensional universe may exist.
  8. (obsolete) The body.
    • Shakespeare
      My liver leaped within my bulk.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of George Turberville to this entry?)

Translations

bodybuilding: excess body mass

Adjective

bulk ‎(not comparable)

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

Translations

Verb

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

  1. To appear or seem to be, as to bulk or extent.
    • Leslie Stephen
      The fame of Warburton possibly bulked larger for the moment.
  2. To grow in size; to swell or expand.

Translations

Related terms

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: bŭlk, IPA(key): /bʌlk/
  • Rhymes: -ʌlk

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