1 B2 neutral
To make food go further or be more filling by adding extra, often cheaper, ingredients.
"She bulked out the stew with lentils and extra vegetables to feed more people."
separable
bulk out
B2 neutral separable transitive
To add extra material to something to make it larger, more substantial, or longer.
In plain English
To make something bigger or thicker by adding more stuff to it.
What does "bulk out" mean?
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B2 idiomatic neutral
To make a piece of writing, speech, or presentation longer by adding extra, sometimes unnecessary, material.
"He bulked out his essay with long quotations to reach the minimum word count."
separable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To make something physically bigger on the outside.
Actually means
To make something bigger or thicker by adding more stuff to it.
Usage tip
Used in cooking (adding cheaper ingredients to a dish), writing (adding content to a text to meet a word count), and physical descriptions. Slightly negative connotation in the writing sense, implying the added material is not genuinely valuable.
Words that pair with "bulk out"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
meal essay report stew content mixture
How to conjugate "bulk out"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
bulk out
I/you/we/they
3rd person
bulks out
he/she/it
Past simple
bulked out
yesterday
Past participle
bulked out
have + pp
-ing form
bulking out
continuous
Hear "bulk out" in the wild
Listen to native speakers using "bulk out" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
Keep exploring
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