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bulk - 13 dictionary results

bulk

1[buhlk]
–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, esp. 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, esp. 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.
15. bulk up, to increase the bulk of, esp. by increasing the thickness of: Adding four chapters will bulk up the book.
16. in bulk,
a. unpackaged: Fresh orange juice is shipped from Florida in bulk.
b. in large quantities: Those who buy in bulk receive a discount.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME bolke heap, cargo, hold < ON bulki cargo, ship's hold


1. See size 1 .


Bulk and bulge most often are pronounced with the vowel[uh] of buck. In South Midland and Southern U.S. the [oo] of book and bull commonly occurs among all speakers. Standard British speech has only [uh]. Both types exist in British regional speech, and both were brought to the colonies, where each came to predominate in a different area and was carried west by migration.

bulk

2[buhlk]
–noun Architecture.
a structure, as a stall, projecting from the front of a building.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME: stall; appar. special use of bulk 1

fi⋅ber

[fahy-ber]
–noun
1. a fine, threadlike piece, as of cotton, jute, or asbestos.
2. a slender filament: a fiber of platinum.
3. filaments collectively.
4. matter or material composed of filaments: a plastic fiber.
5. something resembling a filament.
6. an essential character, quality, or strength: people of strong moral fiber.
7. Botany.
a. filamentous matter from the bast tissue or other parts of plants, used for industrial purposes.
b. a slender, threadlike root of a plant.
c. a slender, tapered cell which, with like cells, serves to strengthen tissue.
8. Anatomy, Zoology. a slender, threadlike element or cell, as of nerve, muscle, or connective tissue.
9. Nutrition. Also called bulk, dietary fiber, roughage.
a. the structural part of plants and plant products that consists of carbohydrates, as cellulose and pectin, that are wholly or partially indigestible and when eaten stimulate peristalsis in the intestine.
b. food containing a high amount of such carbohydrates, as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
10. Chemistry. vulcanized fiber.
11. Optics. optical fiber.
Also, especially British, fibre.


Origin:
1350–1400; 1970–75 for def. 9; ME fibre (< MF) < L fibra filament


fi⋅ber⋅less, adjective
bulk   (bŭlk)   
n.  
  1. Size, mass, or volume, especially when very large.
    1. A distinct mass or portion of matter, especially a large one: the dark bulk of buildings against the sky.
    2. The body of a human, especially when large or muscular.
  2. The major portion or greater part: "The great bulk of necessary work can never be anything but painful" (Bertrand Russell).
  3. See fiber.
  4. Thickness of paper or cardboard in relation to weight.
  5. A ship's cargo.
v.   bulked, bulk·ing, bulks

v.   intr.
  1. To be or appear to be massive in terms of size, volume, or importance; loom: Safety considerations bulked large during development of the new spacecraft.
  2. To grow or increase in size or importance.
  3. To cohere or form a mass: Certain paper bulks well.
v.   tr.
  1. To cause to swell or expand.
  2. To cause to cohere or form a mass.
adj.  Being large in mass, quantity, or volume: a bulk buy; a bulk mailing.
Phrasal Verb(s):
bulk upTo gain weight by gaining muscle: dietary supplements that helped the weightlifters bulk up.

Idiom(s):
in bulk
  1. Unpackaged; loose.
  2. In large numbers, amounts, or volume.

[Middle English, perhaps partly alteration of bouk, belly, trunk of the body (from Old English būc) and partly from Old Norse bulki, cargo, heap; see bhel-2 in Indo-European roots.]
fi·ber   (fī'bər)   
n.  
  1. A slender, elongated, threadlike object or structure.
  2. Botany One of the elongated, thick-walled cells that give strength and support to plant tissue.
  3. Anatomy
    1. Any of the filaments constituting the extracellular matrix of connective tissue.
    2. Any of various elongated cells or threadlike structures, especially a muscle fiber or a nerve fiber.
    3. A natural or synthetic filament, as of cotton or nylon, capable of being spun into yarn.
    4. Material made of such filaments.
    5. Something that provides substance or texture.
    6. Essential character: "stirred the deeper fibers of my nature" (Oscar Wilde).
    7. Basic strength or toughness; fortitude: lacking in moral fiber.
    1. A natural or synthetic filament, as of cotton or nylon, capable of being spun into yarn.
    2. Material made of such filaments.
    3. Something that provides substance or texture.
    4. Essential character: "stirred the deeper fibers of my nature" (Oscar Wilde).
    5. Basic strength or toughness; fortitude: lacking in moral fiber.
    1. Something that provides substance or texture.
    2. Essential character: "stirred the deeper fibers of my nature" (Oscar Wilde).
    3. Basic strength or toughness; fortitude: lacking in moral fiber.
  4. Coarse, indigestible plant matter, consisting primarily of polysaccharides such as cellulose, that when eaten stimulates intestinal peristalsis. Also called bulk, roughage.

[French fibre, from Old French, from Latin fibra.]
fi'bered adj.

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.

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.

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.
Language Translation for : bulk
Spanish: la mayor parte,
German: der Großteil,
Japanese: 大部分

bulk 
c.1440, from O.N. bulki "a heap, ship's cargo," thus "goods loaded loose," perhaps lit. "rolled-up load," from P.Gmc. *bul-, from PIE *bhel- "to blow, swell." Meaning extended by confusion with obs. bouk "belly" (from O.E. buc, from P.Gmc. *bukaz, from PIE root meaning "to swell"), which led to sense of "size," first attested c.1449. Bulkhead (1496), however, is from O.N. balkr "beam, balk."

Main Entry: bulk
Pronunciation: 'b&lk
Function: noun
: a large mass—in bulk 1 : not divided into parts or packaged in separate units
2 : in large quantities

Main Entry: bulk
Function: adjective
1 : being in bulk <bulk shipment of wheat> <bulk foods>
2 : of or relating to materials in bulk <bulk buyer>

Main Entry: bulk
Pronunciation: 'b&lk
Function: noun
: material (as indigestible fibrous residues of food) that forms a mass in the intestine;especially : FIBER 2

bulk

see in bulk.

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