building
noun
Simple meaning
A structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bildingSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɪldɪŋ
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
A structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place
“There was a three-story building on the corner.”
countable
A closed structure with walls and a roof.
mathematics
The occupants of a building
“The entire building complained about the noise.”
The act of constructing something
uncountable
The act or process by which something is built; construction.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place
Used this way, building is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“There was a three-story building on the corner.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “building on …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: building on …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Structure / closednoun
“There was a three-story building on the corner.”
Occupantsnoun
“The entire building complained about the noise.”
More ways to use building
- “There was a three-story building on the corner.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A substance added to soaps or detergents to increase their cleansing action.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A single undivided natural thing occurring in the composition of something else.
Set of standards established and enforced by local government for the structural safety of buildings.
A whole structure (as a building) made up of interconnected or related structures.
The division of a business responsible for building and maintaining the physical plant.
Material used for constructing buildings.
A document authorizing the holder to construct a building of a particular kind on a particular lot.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The act of building up an accumulation.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: structure that has a roof and walls and stands more
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.