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to bulk

to bulk

18 5.6
To gain muscle and weight by exercising and eating more
  • verb
  • /bʌlk/
  • Jargon
: ganar músculo
  • I have been working hard at the gym to bulk up and gain muscle before the competition.

And, you know, so for these swims, I'm bulking up as well.

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Examples

Synonyms

to put on
vsto bulk
63 2.2

To gain weight and become heavier

adds mostly muscle mass through training and diet
to fatten
vsto bulk
26 2.2

To make an animal gain weight and a sauce taste richer by giving more or richer food

increases size via muscle gain from exercise and diet
to fatten up
vsto bulk
14 2.3

To give extra food so a person or animal gains weight

grows size mostly through targeted strength training and diet
to plump
vsto bulk
8 3.8

To make someone or something fuller and rounder

increases bodily muscle size through planned exercise and diet
to pack on
vsto bulk
  • Informal
6 4.5

To gain noticeable weight

gains size mainly as muscle through exercise and diet
to fat
vsto bulk
2 7.7

To make someone gain body weight

develops larger muscle mass from exercise, not just extra weight
to plump out
vsto bulk
  • UK
1 6.1

To make someone or something rounder and fuller

adds muscle size through exercise and nutrition rather than padding
to fatten out
vsto bulk
1 4.9

To make an animal or person gain weight

builds muscular size rather than gaining excess body weight through diet

Antonyms

159 2.8

Become less in amount or value

12 3.0

To reduce the fat on your body by eating less and exercising

Compounds

bulk mail
  • Specialized
1 3.2

Mail sent by post in large amounts to many people, often ads or flyers

bulk mail
  • Texting
1 3.3

Large amounts of email sent at once to many people, often ads or unwanted messages

bulk modulus
  • Specialized
8.2

A measure of how hard a material is to compress, using the pressure change divided by the change in volume

How Big

to bulk
  • Jargon
18 5.6
to beef up
  • Informal
51 4.5
to maintain
∞ 3.1
to lose fat
12 3.0

Surface Forms

bulk infinitive
bulked past
bulked past participle
bulking present participle
bulks third person singular

Etymology

Bulk (as a verb) comes from the same old Norse root bulki meaning 'lump' or 'to become large', and you can see this idea in the phrase bulk up. So to bulk is to make your body bigger or gain 'mass' and muscle.