In law, the term breaking bulk means taking anything out of a package or parcel or in any way destroying its entirety. It was thus important in connection with the subject of bailment

Bailment

Bailment describes a legal relationship in common law where physical possession of personal property, or chattel, is transferred from one person to another person who subsequently has possession of the property...

, involving as it did the curious distinction that where a bailee received possession of goods in a box or package, and then sold them as a whole, he was guilty only of a breach of trust, but if he "broke bulk" or caused a separation of the goods, and sold a part or all, he was guilty of felony

Felony

A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...

. This distinction was abolished by the Larceny Act

Larceny Act

Larceny Act is a stock short title which was formerly used for legislation in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland relating to larceny and other offences against property....

 1861, which enacted that whoever, being a bailee of any chattel, money or valuable security, should fraudulently take or convert the same to his own use, or the use of any person other than the owner, although he should not break bulk or otherwise determine the bailment, should be guilty of larceny

Larceny

Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales,...

(s. 3).

Breaking bulk may be used for bulk material ordered broken up in part shipment and shipped to location in different cargo.