Bulk (?), n. [OE. bulke, bolke, heap; cf. Dan. bulk lump, clod, OSw. bolk crowd, mass, Icel. blkast 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.
© Webster 1913.
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.
© Webster 1913.
Bulk, n. [Icel. balkr a beam, partition. Cf. Balk, n. & v.]
A projecting part of a building.
[Obs.]
Here, stand behind this bulk.
Shak.
© Webster 1913.