Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He had "bricked up" the fireplace in his study and put an air-tight stove in, because it was simply impossible to feed an open fire and write a book at the same time.
From Mother Carey's Chickens by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin
For some years past she discontinued these perambulations, and lived entirely shut up in her house in Moss-alley, the windows of which she had bricked up, so that no light could enter from without.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 1. No 1, June 1850 by Various
Rumour had it that Kara, who was no lover of wine, had bricked up the cellars, and their very existence passed into domestic legendary.
From The Clue of the Twisted Candle by Edgar Wallace
After the workmen had bricked up the space from the circumference to the centre, they found themselves inclosed in a well twenty-one feet wide.
From The Moon-Voyage by Jules Verne
