1
a
: magnitude
impressed by the sheer bulk of her accomplishment
b
biology
: material that forms a mass in the intestine
2
3
: the main or greater part
spent the bulk of his time in the office
the bulk of the population
bulked; bulking; bulks
1
: to cause to swell or bulge : stuff
bulk out a report with lots of graphs and charts
2
: to gather into a mass or aggregate
2
: to appear as a factor : loom
a consideration that bulks large in everyone's thinking
1
: being in large quantities or not divided into separate units : being in bulk
bulk shipments of food
bulk mailings
2
: of or relating to materials in bulk
bulk prices
Synonyms
Examples of bulk in a Sentence
Noun
We spent the bulk of the summer at the beach.
Farming makes up the bulk of the country's economy.
The great bulk of these people are extremely poor.
Despite his bulk, he's a very fast runner.
Adjective
They sent bulk shipments of food to the country.
Recent Examples on the Web
Amanda Mull, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2024
Get The Recipe Chocolate Martini Go ahead and make this drink in bulk before the party starts.
—Michelle Darrisaw, Southern Living, 11 Apr. 2024
And the same goes for companies interested in purchasing it, buying in bulk will keep costs down.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Apr. 2024
Brandy Melville’s business model involves churning out inexpensive, trendy items that are likely to be discarded in this way, Ms. Orner said, and shipping them out to influencers in bulk, in exchange for free promotion.
—Callie Holtermann, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2024
Retail giant Costco — known for selling groceries and household items in bulk — is going to start offering prescriptions for Ozempic and other similar medications to some members.
—Cara Lynn Shultz, Peoplemag, 3 Apr. 2024
Buying generic Viagra in bulk can lead to additional cost savings.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
Wholesale and warehouse clubs are different from supermarkets, often allowing shoppers to buy products in bulk to keep prices lower.
—Kimberly Cataudella Tutuska, Miami Herald, 3 Apr. 2024
In audit after audit of postal facilities from New York to Los Angeles, the agency's independent inspectors documented workers and supervisors failing to follow basic, long-standing regulations meant to protect the keys — and to prevent one easy way thieves are stealing Americans' mail in bulk.
—Nick Devlin, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2024
Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Dec. 2023
Harris hasn’t strayed too far off the Halloween path, bulking her filmography with appearances in scary movies like See No Evil (2014) and Night of the Living Dead: Darkest Dawn (2015) and portraying a member of the Manson family cult in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).
—Sophie T. Stern, Peoplemag, 18 Oct. 2023
Even professional bodybuilders are always cutting and then bulking.
—Men's Health, 6 June 2023
After bulking itself up when the U.K. was in Europe aiming to become part of the biggest exchange in the EU, after Brexit the exchange has shrunk, selling off the Italian Stock Exchange and buying for a huge sum a chunk of the old Reuters.
—Clem Chambers, Forbes, 4 May 2023
But insoluble fiber, the type that turns to gel when mixed with liquid, actually bulks your stools and helps prevent diarrhea, Cassell says.
—Perri O. Blumberg, Men's Health, 15 Mar. 2023
So the media companies need to bulk out.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Feb. 2022
Heavy weights will bulk you up.
—Star Tribune, 22 Jan. 2021
Bolden expects the Buckeyes to bulk the young hammer up to further enhance his physical game.
—Scott Springer, The Enquirer, 21 Dec. 2022
Davey Winder, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
Also get 15% off online gift card purchases Feb. 11-18 (good for retail plastic and egift card purchases and reloads made online or egift card purchases made using Apple Pay in Messages only; offer not valid in cafe, on bulk gift card purchases, or purchases from third parties).
—Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024
Almeida admitted making trips to Mexico to get cash to buy bulk ammunition, including bullets with tracer capability.
—Beth Warren, The Courier-Journal, 23 Feb. 2024
Snag deals on bulk grocery and household items, as well as electronics, clothes, and appliances.
—Stack Commerce, Popular Science, 21 Feb. 2024
Howard and Enlow were both competing for the final spot in the starting rotation or a bulk role in the bullpen, but the moves put Mason Black, Daulton Jefferies and Landen Roupp in position to potentially seize those jobs.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 23 Mar. 2024
One method, suggested by WIRED senior writer Lily Hay Newman, is to curate your bulk deletions by email address.
—Boone Ashworth Lauren Goode, WIRED, 17 Mar. 2024
Hugo van der Goes, the vice president for cocoa at Barry Callebaut, the world’s largest maker of bulk chocolate, said the shortfall could reach 500,000 metric tons, Bloomberg reported.
—David J. Lynch, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024
First, Costco sold gold bars to its members who were looking to invest in more than bulk household purchases.
—Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 9 Mar. 2024
Noun
Practices such as meal-prepping and buying in bulk have further centered reusable food containers in America’s eating habits.
—Amanda Mull, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2024
Get The Recipe Chocolate Martini Go ahead and make this drink in bulk before the party starts.
—Michelle Darrisaw, Southern Living, 11 Apr. 2024
And the same goes for companies interested in purchasing it, buying in bulk will keep costs down.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Apr. 2024
Brandy Melville’s business model involves churning out inexpensive, trendy items that are likely to be discarded in this way, Ms. Orner said, and shipping them out to influencers in bulk, in exchange for free promotion.
—Callie Holtermann, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2024
Retail giant Costco — known for selling groceries and household items in bulk — is going to start offering prescriptions for Ozempic and other similar medications to some members.
—Cara Lynn Shultz, Peoplemag, 3 Apr. 2024
Buying generic Viagra in bulk can lead to additional cost savings.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
Wholesale and warehouse clubs are different from supermarkets, often allowing shoppers to buy products in bulk to keep prices lower.
—Kimberly Cataudella Tutuska, Miami Herald, 3 Apr. 2024
In audit after audit of postal facilities from New York to Los Angeles, the agency's independent inspectors documented workers and supervisors failing to follow basic, long-standing regulations meant to protect the keys — and to prevent one easy way thieves are stealing Americans' mail in bulk.
—Nick Devlin, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2024
Verb
The two streaming services, Max/Discovery+ (95 million global subscribers) and Paramount+ (63 million subs), are seen as subscale compared to the offerings from Netflix (247 million subscribers) or Disney+ (105 million core subs), with a merger helping to bulk them up.
—Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Dec. 2023
Harris hasn’t strayed too far off the Halloween path, bulking her filmography with appearances in scary movies like See No Evil (2014) and Night of the Living Dead: Darkest Dawn (2015) and portraying a member of the Manson family cult in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).
—Sophie T. Stern, Peoplemag, 18 Oct. 2023
Even professional bodybuilders are always cutting and then bulking.
—Men's Health, 6 June 2023
After bulking itself up when the U.K. was in Europe aiming to become part of the biggest exchange in the EU, after Brexit the exchange has shrunk, selling off the Italian Stock Exchange and buying for a huge sum a chunk of the old Reuters.
—Clem Chambers, Forbes, 4 May 2023
But insoluble fiber, the type that turns to gel when mixed with liquid, actually bulks your stools and helps prevent diarrhea, Cassell says.
—Perri O. Blumberg, Men's Health, 15 Mar. 2023
So the media companies need to bulk out.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Feb. 2022
Heavy weights will bulk you up.
—Star Tribune, 22 Jan. 2021
Bolden expects the Buckeyes to bulk the young hammer up to further enhance his physical game.
—Scott Springer, The Enquirer, 21 Dec. 2022
Adjective
Furthermore, the same new rules requiring proper domain authentication from bulk senders will increase email security for Gmail users.
—Davey Winder, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
Also get 15% off online gift card purchases Feb. 11-18 (good for retail plastic and egift card purchases and reloads made online or egift card purchases made using Apple Pay in Messages only; offer not valid in cafe, on bulk gift card purchases, or purchases from third parties).
—Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024
Almeida admitted making trips to Mexico to get cash to buy bulk ammunition, including bullets with tracer capability.
—Beth Warren, The Courier-Journal, 23 Feb. 2024
Snag deals on bulk grocery and household items, as well as electronics, clothes, and appliances.
—Stack Commerce, Popular Science, 21 Feb. 2024
Howard and Enlow were both competing for the final spot in the starting rotation or a bulk role in the bullpen, but the moves put Mason Black, Daulton Jefferies and Landen Roupp in position to potentially seize those jobs.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 23 Mar. 2024
One method, suggested by WIRED senior writer Lily Hay Newman, is to curate your bulk deletions by email address.
—Boone Ashworth Lauren Goode, WIRED, 17 Mar. 2024
Hugo van der Goes, the vice president for cocoa at Barry Callebaut, the world’s largest maker of bulk chocolate, said the shortfall could reach 500,000 metric tons, Bloomberg reported.
—David J. Lynch, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024
First, Costco sold gold bars to its members who were looking to invest in more than bulk household purchases.
—Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 9 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bulk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near bulk
Cite this Entry
“Bulk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bulk. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bulk
1 of 3 noun1
: greatness of size or mass : volume
2
: a large body or mass
3
: the main or greater part
did the bulk of the work
4
bulk
2 of 3 verb1
: to cause to swell or bulge
2
: to appear as a consideration
an issue that bulks large in her mind
bulk
3 of 3 adjective
: being in bulk
bulk foods
Medical Definition
bulk
noun
: material (as indigestible fibrous residues of food) that forms a mass in the intestine
especially
: fiber sense 2
Legal Definition
bulk
1 of 2 noun
: a large mass
bulk
2 of 2 adjective1
: being in bulk
bulk shipment of wheat
bulk foods
2
: of or relating to materials in bulk
bulk buyer
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