building block

building block

noun

Definition of BUILDING BLOCK

: a unit of construction or composition; especially : something essential on which a larger entity is based

Examples of BUILDING BLOCK

1. <historically the infantry division has been a basic building block of armies>

First Known Use of BUILDING BLOCK

1756

Related to BUILDING BLOCK

Synonyms: element, component, constituent, factor, ingredient, member

Antonyms: whole

Related Words: basis, part and parcel; detail, item, particular, point; aspect, characteristic, facet, feature, trait; division, fragment, particle, partition, piece, portion, section, sector, segment; subcomponent

Near Antonyms: aggregate, composite, compound, mass; entirety, sum, summation, total, totality; admixture, amalgam, amalgamation, blend, combination, intermixture, mix, mixture

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Rhymes with BUILDING BLOCK

acid rock, aftershock, alarm clock, alpenstock, antilock, Antioch, Arawak, banjo clock, billycock, butcher-block, chockablock, chopping block, cinder block, clean one's clock, common stock, country rock, cuckoo clock, culture shock, floating dock, four-o'clock, future shock, glitter rock, hammerlock, hollyhock, Holy Loch, interlock, in the dock, John Hancock, kill the clock, lady's-smock, Languedoc, laughingstock, Little Rock, manioc, monadnock, on the block, out of stock, penny stock, phosphate rock, pillow block, poppycock, preferred stock, Ragnarok, rolling stock, septic shock, starting block, shuttlecock, spatterdock, sticker shock, summer stock, superblock, tracking stock, treasury stock, turkey-cock, vapor lock, water clock, weathercock, writer's block