1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

bulking (up)

verb

present participle of bulk (up)
as in assembling
to bring together in one body or place she bulked up her hair with one hand as she reached for the shears with the other

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bulking (up)
  1. assembling
  2. collecting
  3. gathering
  4. rounding up
  5. accumulating
  6. amassing
  7. grouping
Verb
  • Op de Beeck seemed right at home plunked on one of his polyester Chesterfields, observing the artisans quietly assembling leather goods beyond the bamboo.
    — Miles Socha, Footwear News, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Rural English estate Fresh off the release of his debut album, Plus, in 2012, Sheeran began assembling his primary residence, a sprawling compound near his hometown of Framlingham in Suffolk, England.
    — Katie Schultz, Architectural Digest, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of assembling
Verb
  • Sponsor will be collecting personal data about entrants in accordance with their respective privacy policies.
    — Bon Appétit, Bon Appetit Magazine, 15 Sep. 2026
  • The garden’s herbarium collections manager, Annica Wu, will teach a two-part course on collecting and preserving plants using herbarium techniques.
    — Pedro Moura, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of collecting
Verb
  • In a news conference following the Fed's announcement, Chair Kevin Warsh emphasized that the economy has shown signs of gathering speed since the central bank decided to keep rates unchanged in late July.
    — DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFFFROM WIRE REPORTS, Arkansas Online, 17 Sep. 2026
  • On Wednesday, the NTSB and the FAA were at the accident site, gathering factual data.
    — Brittney Ermon, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of gathering
Verb
  • The repeat rebookings stem from the fact that the federal government often doesn’t have enough detention space to jail all the immigrants whom ICE and its cooperating local authorities are rounding up.
    — Mario Ariza, ProPublica, 27 Aug. 2026
  • In honor of the legendary actress-musician, PEOPLE is rounding up the most memorable theatrical films featuring Parton’s singular presence.
    — Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of rounding up
Verb
  • Families where unspoken tensions about roles, fairness and legacy had been accumulating for years.
    — Joy Nissen, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Multiple inches of snow fell north of Atlanta at the beginning of 2026, accumulating to nearly 4 inches in some areas including around Lake Lanier.
    — Irene Wright, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of accumulating
Verb
  • As data centers proliferate across the country, amassing space in both acreage and America’s politics, no projects compare with the one planned for this corner of northwestern Utah.
    — Melanie Stetson Freeman, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Allison is a true clothing connoisseur, amassing her impressive collection of high-quality apparel over decades.
    — Elizabeth Hernandez, Denver Post, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of amassing
Verb
  • But Shanes questioned whether grouping Jews under a single ethnic category would produce sufficiently specific data for those purposes, or instead obscure differences among Jewish populations with distinct ancestries.
    — Naomi Taxay, Sacbee.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • This time around, however, the tech giant is establishing parameters on mass arbitration by grouping them in batches of 25, 100, and 500, depending on the total number of claimants with similar issues.
    — Roy Stephen Canivel, Footwear News, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of grouping
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

bulking
bulking (up)
bulks
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bulking (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bulking%20%28up%29. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All