building

noun

build·​ing ˈbil-diŋ 

1

: a usually roofed and walled structure built for permanent use (as for a dwelling)

2

: the art or business of assembling materials into a structure

Synonyms of building

• structure
• house
• edifice

Examples of building in a Sentence

My office is in that small brick building.

We bought the land for building.

Recent Examples on the Web

Thousands of protesters met in front of City Hall in the afternoon, before many marched to the federal detention center, where a mob of violent agitators swarmed the area, pushing a large construction dumpster and blocking the entrance to the building's loading dock. —Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 31 Jan. 2026

By building arrays of outdoor telescopes that gather and focus that blue light, these Čerenkov telescopes can help us reconstruct the original direction and energy of these ultra-fast cosmic rays that strike and interact with Earth’s atmosphere. —Big Think, 30 Jan. 2026

The company’s focus on efficient and autonomous ship manufacturing and mature supply chain enables high volume, low cost delivery of commercial and defense maritime vehicles, in surface and sub-surface environments (currently 95% of commercial ship-building occurs in Asia). —Sabbir Rangwala, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026

While the TheaterWorks Hartford building was undergoing renovations, the company did several shows during its 2018-19 season at the theater in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. —Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 30 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing building

• apartment building
• building block
• building society
• sick building syndrome
• world building

Rhymes for building

• gilding
• boatbuilding
• outbuilding
• rebuilding
• roadbuilding
• shipbuilding
• upbuilding
• bodybuilding

Kids Definition

building

noun

build·​ing ˈbil-diŋ 

1

: a permanent structure built as a dwelling, shelter, or place for human activity or for storage

an office building

2

: the art, work, or business of assembling materials into a structure