build
Americanverb (used with object)
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builds,
present (3rd person singular)
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built,
past participle, past
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builded,
past participle, past (Archaic)
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building
present participle
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to construct (especially something complex) by assembling and joining parts or materials.
to build a house.
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to establish, increase, or strengthen (often followed byup ).
to build a business;
to build up one's hopes.
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to mold, form, or create.
to build students into skilled professionals.
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a relationship built on trust.
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Games.
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to make (words) from letters.
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to assemble (cards) according to number, suit, etc., as in melding.
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to create (a character in a role-playing game) by choosing a job class and/or a set of attributes, skills, weapons, armor, etc.; spec.
If you want to build a Warlock, choosing Half-Elf for your race will give you more spells and magic resistance.
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verb (used without object)
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builds,
present (3rd person singular)
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built,
past participle, past
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builded,
past participle, past (Archaic)
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building
present participle
-
to engage in the art, practice, or business of building.
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to form or construct a plan, system of thought, etc. (usually followed by on orupon ).
He built on the philosophies of the past.
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to increase or develop toward a maximum, as of intensity, tempo, or magnitude (often followed byup ).
The drama builds steadily toward a climax.
noun
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builds
plural
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the physical structure, especially of a person; physique; figure.
He had a strong build.
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the manner or form of construction.
The house was of modern build.
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Computers.
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a version of a program after compilation, typically an update to an existing version made before the program is released.
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the process of producing a software build.
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a new version or update of data in a database or on a website.
frequent, incremental builds of data.
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(in a video game or tabletop role-playing game) a set of attributes, skills, weapons, armor, and other items chosen by the player that affect the character’s speed, strength, intelligence, etc., which may make the character more effective in some roles and less effective in others.
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Masonry.
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a vertical joint.
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the vertical dimension of a stone laid on its bed.
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verb phrase
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build in / into to build or incorporate as part of something else: an allowance for travel expenses built into the budget.
to build in bookcases between the windows;
an allowance for travel expenses built into the budget.
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build out to expand, construct, or develop: The team used to manually build out its marketing email list, but now it's automatic.
They decided to build out the road network to connect the two towns.
The team used to manually build out its marketing email list, but now it's automatic.
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build up
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to develop or increase.
to build up a bank account.
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to strengthen.
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to prepare in stages.
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to fill in with houses; develop into an urban area.
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to praise or flatter.
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verb
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to make, construct, or form by joining parts or materials
to build a house
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(intr) to be a builder by profession
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(tr) to order the building of
the government builds most of our hospitals
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to base; found
his theory was not built on facts
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(tr) to establish and develop
it took ten years to build a business
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(tr) to make in a particular way or for a particular purpose
the car was not built for speed
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to increase in intensity
the wind was building
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cards
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to add cards to each other to form (a sequence or set)
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(intr) to add to the layout of cards on the table from one's hand
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noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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misbuildverb
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superbuildverb
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underbuildverb
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outbuildverb (used with object)
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prebuildverb (used with object)
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buildableadjective
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unbuildableadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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buildsimple
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buildssimple
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have buildedperfect
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have builtperfect
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has buildedperfect
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has builtperfect
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am buildingprogressive
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are buildingprogressive
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is buildingprogressive
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have been buildingperfect progressive
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has been buildingperfect progressive
Past
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buildedsimple
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builtsimple
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had buildedperfect
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had builtperfect
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was buildingprogressive
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were buildingprogressive
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had been buildingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of build
First recorded before 1150; from Middle English bilden, Old English byldan, derivative of bold, variant of botl “dwelling, house”
Explanation
To build is to construct or make something. When you build a house, you start at the very bottom, with the foundation, and work your way up. You build a birdhouse using scraps of wood, a hammer, and nails, or you can build a career as a poet by writing daily and submitting poems to literary magazines. In both examples, you're constructing something yourself using materials and hard work. Another meaning is to make stronger: "I have to build my endurance if I'm going to finish that marathon." The Old English root of build, byldan, specifically means "build a house," from bold, "house."
Vocabulary lists containing build
"The Giving Tree"
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Make
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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.
See Examples For:
Plus, there was the not-so-insignificant problem of where to build a new facility on campus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Instead, the firm agreed to reroute investment to build a LNG plant in Texas and to develop "upstream conventional oil" in the Gulf of Mexico.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Burbank is also trying to build more homes downtown.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
By early this year, 70% of all new fine-tuned models—the derivative works researchers and developers build on top of base models—were built on Chinese foundations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
“When are we going to build a new hut?”
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
It would’ve been easier to create fresh builds or buy new decor and furnishings, Cain admits, but then it wouldn’t feel like the right setting to him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The work builds on previous geological research in the region, but the scale and diversity of the discovery mark a major advance.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
“While tech bubble builds can overcome such headwinds and uncertainty longer-term, shorter-term drawdowns and rotations into value are not unusual,” the strategists said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
"Customers don't like that. That's not how anybody builds a budget."
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Both carried slight builds, with heads shaped more like ovals than circles.
From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson
“Here where Nature has builded her finest playground, man has added the material things which provide the comforts that make life worth while,” proclaimed a 1921 advertisement in The Times titled “The Great Southwest.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2022
Our heritage is builded high On faith and love—they will not die!
From Time Magazine Archive
Percy Haughton's widow watched the Columbia team that he had builded sink to defeat before Cornell at Ithaca.
From Time Magazine Archive
His published memoirs, Remembered Yesterdays,* is a book that tells a little of a man whose talents symbolized his century and whose beliefs typify the faiths on which this nation was builded.
From Time Magazine Archive
When I awoke this morning he hath builded me a Fire in the Grate.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
First Street Village, a 275-unit apartment complex built in 2023 that has ground-floor retail such as a wine bar, fitness center and pet groomer, got help from the city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Ukraine has built a sprawling drone industry from scratch, hailed by President Volodymyr Zelensky as the best in the world.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
But in Gilroy, Calif., known as the world’s garlic capital, there’s a twist: The $2 billion facility that residents are railing against is already being built.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Graven had more than one million followers across his various social media platforms and had built a strong community on Kick.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Standing about thirty feet high and built of solid stone like something from medieval times, it wrapped around the entire campus.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
But this gleaming building and its array of amenities had far exceeded his initial expectations, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
“This is a decisive win for advanced American manufacturing and investment in domestic energy supply chains,” said Dan Barcelo, Chairman & CEO of T1 Energy, which is building a new solar panel factory in Texas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Only after the death toll mounted did authorities begin building footbridges.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
GAESA's headquarters are located in a building in Havana's historic center with no visible sign identifying the company.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
But when we get out of the car and are guided inside a building, I immediately know where we are.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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.
