built-up
Americanadjective
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built by the fastening together of several parts or enlarged by the addition of layers.
This shoe has a built-up heel.
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(of an area) filled in with houses, as an urban region.
adjective
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having many buildings (esp in the phrase built-up area )
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denoting a beam, girder, or stanchion constructed of sections welded, riveted, or bolted together, etc
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increased by the addition of parts
built-up heels
Etymology
Origin of built-up
First recorded in 1820–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The Ghost Trail has that familiar ride and feel, with built-up traction, durability and ‘just-enough’ protection,” says Nick Clinton, footwear product line manager at Brooks Running.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
If you have a highly concentrated stock allocation with large built-up gains, you can gradually whittle down your position and use the $6,000 deduction to minimize or cancel the tax hit, Adams says.
From Barron's • Apr. 25, 2026
I had so much built-up anxiety about facing my own numbers, but seeing my boyfriend lay his cards on the table gave me the courage to finally log in and look at mine.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026
The problem was worse downstream in built-up areas, where waterways received discharges from sewage treatment plants and misconnected sewers.
From BBC • Mar. 10, 2026
Every few months—especially when it was hot and humid—the weight of the built-up paper would become too much for the staples, and a slow avalanche of clippings would lean forward and whisper to the floor.
From "The Landry News" by Andrew Clements
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
