From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbulkbulk1 /bʌlk/ ●○○ AWL noun 1 → the bulk (of something)2 [countable usually singular]BIG a big mass or shape of something the great bulk of a building► see thesaurus at size3 [uncountable]SIZE the size of something or someone The dough will rise until it is double in bulk.4 → in bulk
Examples from the Corpus
bulk• The great bulk of the evidence from the town, however, concerns pottery production and iron-working.• He saw the pond they called the lake and the grey bulk of the Mithraeum on the farther shore.• Let the dough rise until it is double in bulk.• For its bulk, the whale is a graceful swimmer.• But the bulk of the chemical run-off binds to particulates and is concentrated rather than dispersed evenly through the water column.• Undergraduate majors form the bulk of most economic professors' workloads.• The participating banks collectively provide the bulk of the funds.• The bulk of the mound towered over Mungo, intimidating him.bulkbulk2 adjective 1 → bulk buying/orders etc2 [only before noun]BUY bulk goods are sold or moved in large quantities bulk flour for commercial bakeries3 → bulk mailExamples from the Corpus
bulk• We sell bulk coffee to restaurants.bulkbulk3 verb → bulk large → bulk something ↔ out → bulk up→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
bulk• Each day bulked, a wrong guess, a thing Ralph had failed to take into account.• These had always bulked large in the history of diplomacy.• As for Hellinck and Lupi, their work is a chaos of dubious attributions but motets bulk largely in it.• Use pads of acid-free tissue paper to bulk out shoes.From Longman Business Dictionarybulkbulk /bʌlk/ noun1the bulk of something the main or largest part of somethingThe change in the tax system will affect the bulk of the population.The bulk of the meetings would be held in Washington.2COMMERCEif you buy, sell, or make something in bulk, you buy, sell, or make large amounts of itSmall traders are unable to compete with larger companies which buy and sell in bulk.a bulk shipment of medical supplies3in bulk stored loose, not packed in containersthe first grain warehouse at the docks for the storage of grain in bulkOrigin bulk1 (1400-1500) Old Norse bulki “goods carried on a ship” 