in bulk

noun

1. magnitude in three dimensions: a ship of great bulk.
2. the greater part; main mass or body: The bulk of the debt was paid.
3. goods or cargo not in packages or boxes, usually transported in large volume, as grain, coal, or petroleum.
4. fiber(def 9).
5. (of paper, cardboard, yarn, etc.) thickness, especially in relation to weight.
6. the body of a living creature.
7. bulk mail.

adjective

8. being or traded in bulk: bulk grain.

verb (used without object)

9. to increase in size; expand; swell.
10. to be of or give the appearance of great weight, size, or importance: The problem bulks large in his mind.
11. (of paper, cardboard, yarn, etc.) to be of or to acquire a specific thickness, especially in relation to weight.
12. to gather, form, or mix into a cohesive or uniform mass.

verb (used with object)

13. to cause to swell, grow, or increase in weight or thickness.
14. to gather, bring together, or mix.

Verb Phrases

15. bulk up, to increase the bulk of, especially by increasing the thickness of: Adding four chapters will bulk up the book.

Idioms

16. in bulk,
    1. unpackaged: Fresh orange juice is shipped from Florida in bulk.
    2. in large quantities: Those who buy in bulk receive a discount.

noun

1. volume, size, or magnitude, esp when great
2. the main partthe bulk of the work is repetitious
3. a large body, esp of a personhe eased his bulk out of the chair
4. the part of food which passes unabsorbed through the digestive systemhe eased his bulk out of the chair
5. unpackaged cargo or goods
6. a ship’s cargo or hold
7. printing
   1. the thickness of a number of sheets of paper or cardboard
   2. the thickness of a book excluding its covers
8. (plural) copies of newspapers sold in bulk at a discounted price to hotels, airlines, etc which issue them free to their customers
9. in bulk
   1. in large quantities
   2. (of a cargo, etc) unpackaged

verb

10. to cohere or cause to cohere in a mass
11. to place, hold, or transport (several cargoes of goods) in bulk
12. bulk large to be or seem important or prominentthe problem bulked large in his mind

n.

mid-15c., “a heap,” earlier “ship’s cargo” (mid-14c.), from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse bulki “a heap; ship’s cargo,” thus “goods loaded loose” (perhaps literally “rolled-up load”), from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) “to blow, inflate, swell” (see bole).

Meaning extended by confusion with obsolete bouk “belly” (from Old English buc “body, belly,” from Proto-Germanic *bukaz; see bucket), which led to sense of “size,” first attested mid-15c.

v.

“swell, become more massive,” 1550s (usually with up), from bulk (n.). Related: Bulked; bulking.

1

Unpackaged, loose, as in It’s cheaper to buy rice in bulk. [Late 1600s]

2

In large amounts or volume, as in The ship was carrying wheat in bulk. [Mid-1700s]

see in bulk.