building trades

plural noun

1. those trades, as carpentry, masonry, and plastering, that are primarily concerned with the construction and finishing of buildings.

Word History and Origins

Origin of building trades¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

There were few unionized building trades in rural Pennsylvania.

From The Daily Beast

In Buffalo the journeymen builders' association included all the building trades.

From Project Gutenberg

Not only the building trades, as in Boston, but most of the mechanical branches were involved.

From Project Gutenberg

Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of workingmen had won reduced hours of labor, especially in the building trades.

From Project Gutenberg

By 1900 the eight-hour day was the rule in the building trades, in granite cutting and in bituminous coal mining.

From Project Gutenberg

That'll be equivalent to a general strike in all the building trades.

From Project Gutenberg