building
Americannoun
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a relatively permanent enclosed construction over a plot of land, having a roof and usually windows and often more than one level, used for any of a wide variety of activities, as living, entertaining, or manufacturing.
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the act, business, or practice of constructing houses, office buildings, etc.
noun
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something built with a roof and walls, such as a house or factory
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the act, business, occupation, or art of building houses, boats, etc
Related Words
Building, edifice, structure refer to something built. Building and structure may apply to either a finished or an unfinished product of construction, and carry no implications as to size or condition. Edifice is a more formal word and narrower in application, referring to a completed structure, and usually a large and imposing one. Building generally connotes a useful purpose (houses, schools, business offices, etc.); structure suggests the planning and constructive process.
Other Word Forms
- buildingless adjective
- underbuilding noun
Etymology
Origin of building
First recorded in 1250–1300, building is from the Middle English word byldinge. See build, -ing 1
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.
It also continues to strike enterprise deals and appears to be building its first enterprise sales team.
From Barron's
Overall, the moves at MS NOW show a willingness to invest in growing the business, a situation that did not exist under NBCU, which has been focused on building its Peacock streaming platform.
From Los Angeles Times
When the city is in crisis, the building becomes an activist headquarters.
From Los Angeles Times
“This isn’t going to happen overnight, but all the building blocks are being put in place.”
From Los Angeles Times
But in one case, the "war" between Egypt and Ethiopia was a dispute over the building of a dam and there was no actual fighting to end.
From BBC
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.
