Adjacent Words

Bulk definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BULK, n.
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.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the property resulting from being or relating to the greater in number of two parts; the main part; "the majority of his customers prefer it"; "the bulk of the work is finished" [syn: majority, bulk] [ant: minority]
2: the property of something that is great in magnitude; "it is cheaper to buy it in bulk"; "he received a mass of correspondence"; "the volume of exports" [syn: bulk, mass, volume]
3: the property possessed by a large mass v
1: stick out or up; "The parcel bulked in the sack"
2: cause to bulge or swell outwards [syn: bulge, bulk]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, heap, bulk, from Old Norse bulki cargo Date: 15th century 1. a. spatial dimension ; magnitude b. material that forms a mass in the intestine; especially fiber 1d 2. a. body; especially a large or corpulent human body b. an organized structure especially when viewed primarily as a mass of material c. a ponderous shapeless mass 3. the main or greater part Synonyms: bulk, mass, volume mean the aggregate that forms a body or unit. bulk implies an aggregate that is impressively large, heavy, or numerous <the darkened bulk of the skyscrapers>. mass suggests an aggregate made by piling together things of the same kind <a mass of boulders>. volume applies to an aggregate without shape or outline and capable of flowing or fluctuating <a tremendous volume of water>. II. verb Date: 1540 transitive verb 1. to cause to swell or bulge ; stuff 2. to gather into a mass or aggregate intransitive verb 1. swell, expand 2. to appear as a factor ; loom <a consideration that bulks large in everyone's thinking> III. adjective Date: 1693 1. being in bulk <bulk cement> 2. of or relating to materials in bulk

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a size; magnitude (esp. large). b a large mass, body, or person. c a large quantity. 2 a large shape, body, or person (jacket barely covered his bulk). 3 (usu. prec. by the; treated as pl.) the greater part or number (the bulk of the applicants are women). 4 roughage. 5 Naut. cargo, esp. unpackaged. --v. 1 intr. seem in respect of size or importance (bulks large in his reckoning). 2 tr. make (a book, a textile yarn, etc.) seem thicker by suitable treatment (bulked it with irrelevant stories). 3 tr. combine (consignments etc.). Phrases and idioms: break bulk begin unloading (cargo). bulk-buying 1 buying in large amounts at a discount. 2 the purchase by one buyer of all or most of a producer's output. in bulk 1 in large quantities. 2 (of a cargo) loose, not packaged. Etymology: sense 'cargo' f. OIcel. búlki; sense 'mass' etc. perh. alt. f. obs. bouk (cf. BUCK(3))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bulk Bulk (b[u^]lk), n. [OE. bulke, bolke, heap; cf. Dan. bulk lump, clod, OSw. bolk crowd, mass, Icel. b?lkast to be bulky. Cf. Boll, n., Bile a boil, Bulge, n.] 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bulk Bulk, v. 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bulk Bulk, n. [Icel. b[=a]lkr a beam, partition. Cf. Balk, n. & v.] A projecting part of a building. [Obs.] Here, stand behind this bulk. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. You can refer to something's bulk when you want to emphasize that it is very large. (WRITTEN) ...the shadowy bulk of an ancient barn. N-SING: with supp [emphasis] 2. You can refer to a large person's body or to their weight or size as their bulk. Bannol lowered his bulk carefully into the chair... Despite his bulk he moved lightly on his feet. N-SING: usu poss N 3. The bulk of something is most of it. The bulk of the text is essentially a review of these original documents... The vast bulk of imports and exports are carried by sea. = majority QUANT: QUANT of def-n • Bulk is also a pronoun. They come from all over the world, though the bulk is from the Indian subcontinent. PRON 4. If you buy or sell something in bulk, you buy or sell it in large quantities. Buying in bulk is more economical than shopping for small quantities. ...bulk purchasing. N-UNCOUNT: in N, N n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Magnitude, size, volume, mass, dimensions. 2. Largeness, bulkiness, great size, bigness, massyness, massiveness, greatness, amplitude. 3. Majority, mass, body, major part, most, main part, greater part, principal part.

Moby Thesaurus

accumulate, add to, agglomerate, aggrandize, aggregate, aggroup, amass, amount, ampleness, amplify, amplitude, area, assemble, augment, balloon, batch, best part, better part, bigness, bloat, block, blow up, bodily size, body, boundlessness, breadth, bring together, broaden, budget, build, build up, bulk large, bulk out, bunch, bunch together, bunch up, caliber, chunk, clod, clump, cluster, coarseness, collect, colligate, collocate, combine, compare, compile, conglomerate, core, corpulence, corpus, corral, coverage, crescendo, cumulate, depth, develop, diameter, dig up, dilate, dimension, dimensions, distance through, distend, draw together, dredge up, drive together, enlarge, enlargement, enormity, enormousness, essence, exceed, expand, expanse, expansion, extend, extension, extent, fatness, fill out, force, formidableness, fullness, gather, gather in, gather together, gauge, generality, get in, get together, gigantism, girth, gist, gob, grandeur, grandness, gravamen, great scope, greaten, greatness, grossness, group, height, hike, hike up, huff, hugeness, hunk, immensity, increase, infinity, inflate, intensity, join, juxtapose, largeness, length, loaf, loom, loom large, lump, lump together, magnify, magnitude, main body, major part, majority, make up, mass, match, matter, measure, measurement, meat, might, mightiness, mobilize, more than half, most, muchness, muster, nugget, numbers, object, outsoar, outstrip, overtop, pair, partner, pat, plenitude, plurality, power, preponderance, preponderancy, prodigiousness, proportion, proportions, puff, puff up, pump, pump up, put together, quantity, quantum, radius, raise, rake up, rally, range, rarefy, reach, rear, rise above, round up, scale, scope, scrape together, size, snowball, soar, spread, stand out, staple, strength, stretch, stupendousness, substance, sufflate, sum, swell, take up, the greatest number, the third dimension, thickness, thrust, total, totality, tower, tower above, transcend, tremendousness, tumefy, up, vastness, volume, wad, whip in, whole, widen, width