bulk

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
bulk/bʌlk/

▶noun

• 1 the mass or magnitude of something large.

  ■ a large mass or shape.

  ■ [as modifier] large in quantity: a bulk supplier.

• 2 the greater part: the bulk of the traffic had passed.

• 3 roughage in food.

• 4 cargo in an unpackaged mass.

▶verb

• 1 treat (a product) so that its quantity appears greater than it is.

• 2 combine (shares or commodities for sale).

– phrases
bulk large be of great size or importance.
in bulk

• 1 (of goods) in large quantities.

• 2 (of a cargo or commodity) not packaged.

– origin ME: prob. from ON búlki ‘cargo’; perh. also by alt. of obs. bouk ‘belly, body’.