brick

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable) A hardened rectangular block of mud, clay etc., used for building.
2. (uncountable) Such hardened mud, clay, etc. considered collectively, as a building material.
3. (countable) Something shaped like a brick.
4. (countable, uncountable) The colour brick red.
5. (countable, dated, slang, uncountable) A helpful and reliable person.
6. (countable, slang, uncountable) A shot which misses, particularly one which bounces directly out of the basket because of a too-flat trajectory, as if the ball were a heavier object.
7. (countable, informal, uncountable) A power brick; an external power supply consisting of a small box with an integral male plug and an attached cord terminating in another plug.
8. (countable, figuratively, slang, uncountable) An electronic device, especially a heavy box-shaped one, that has become non-functional or obsolete.
9. (UK, countable, slang, uncountable) A projectile.
10. (countable, uncountable) A carton of 500 rimfire cartridges, which forms the approximate size and shape of a brick.
11. (countable, slang, uncountable) A community card (usually the turn or the river) which does not improve a player's hand.
12. (countable, slang, uncountable) A kilogram of cocaine.
13. (countable, derogatory, offensive, uncountable) A trans woman who does not pass.

Verb

1. (transitive) To build, line, or form with bricks.
2. (transitive) To make into bricks.
3. (slang, transitive) To hit someone or something with a brick.
4. (slang, transitive) To make (an electronic device) non-functional and usually beyond repair, as a result of software or configuration issues.
5. (intransitive, slang) Of an electronic device, to become non-functional, especially in a way beyond repair, as a result of software or configuration issues.
6. (intransitive, slang) To blunder; to screw up.

Adj

Extremely cold.

Opposite of

fish, unbrick

Synonyms

block

building block

tile

brick-shaped

clinker

stick

mold

mud brick

cake

🍰

ingot

diamond

erect

fragment

hose

lay bricks

mason

piece

pig

🐖

shattered

slab

stone

🪨

tessera

toff

trump

wreck

square shooter

paving material

straight shooter

brick factory

adobe

brick moth

basin

blockhead

brickbat

brick up

briquette

build

cast

cement

clod

Translations

brique

mattone

ladrillo

Ziegel

baksteen

tijolo

Backstein

Ziegelstein

τούβλο

maó

later

tuğla

steen

🪨

tejolo

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɹɪk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: brik

Cognate with Dutch: brik

Cognate with Old French: briche

Cognate with French: brique

In summary

From Late Middle English brik, bryke, bricke, from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch bricke ("cracked or broken brick; tile-stone"; modern Dutch brik), ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *brekan (“to break”), whence also Old French briche and French brique (“brick”). Compare also German Low German Brickje (“small board, tray”). Related to break.

Sentences

Eight towers made of brick surrounded the castle .