brick
noun · verb · adjective
Simple meaning
Rectangular block of clay baked by the sun or in a kiln.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
brikIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɹɪk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Rectangular block of clay baked by the sun or in a kiln; used as a building or paving material
countable
A hardened rectangular block of mud, clay etc., used for building.
uncountable
Such hardened mud, clay, etc. considered collectively, as a building material.
countable
Something shaped like a brick.
The colour brick red.
informal
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.
verb
intransitiveslang
To blunder; to screw up.
transitive
To build, line, or form with bricks.
transitive
To make into bricks.
transitiveslang
To hit someone or something with a brick.
adjective
(colloquial, African-American Vernacular, New York, of weather) Extremely cold.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Rectangular block of clay baked by the sun or in a kiln; used as a building or paving material
Used this way, brick is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use brick
- “The old house had walls made of red brick.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.