Bulk , n. [Icel. bālkr a beam, partition. Cf. Balk, n. &
v.]
A
projecting part of a building. [Obs.]
Here, stand behind this bulk.
Shak.
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 (bŭlk), 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.
Hear it pronounced