brick

noun, often attributive \ ˈbrik \

Updated on: 13 Apr 2018

Definition of brick

1 plural bricks or brick : a handy-sized unit of building or paving material typically being rectangular and about 2¹/₄ × 3³/₄ × 8 inches (57 × 95 × 203 millimeters) and of moist clay hardened by heat

2 : a good-hearted person

3 : a rectangular compressed mass (as of ice cream)

4 : a semisoft cheese with numerous small holes, smooth texture, and often mild flavor

5 : gaffe, blunder —used especially in the phrase drop a brick

6 : a badly missed shot in basketball

he threw up a brick

See brick defined for English-language learners

See brick defined for kids

Examples of brick in a Sentence

a house made of brick
a brick of ice cream
children playing with wooden bricks
He has been an absolute brick.

Recent Examples of brick from the Web

Prietz hopped on the Eisenhower Expressway headed east, where a brick thrown from an overpass hit his car.

— Chicago Tribune, "Rage, riots, ruin," 9 Apr. 2018
Criminal damage, Woodstock Avenue: On March 30 a resident reported someone threw a brick through the window of his daughter's bedroom.

— julie a. short/special to cleveland.com, cleveland.com, "Brick thrown through bedroom window: Fairview Park Police Blotter," 8 Apr. 2018
No injuries were reported in the fire, which was in a two story brick and siding structure in the 5400 block of Calamint Court.

— martin weil, Washington Post, "Fire heavily damages community clubhouse in Fairfax County near Interstate 66," 7 Apr. 2018
After January, this stretch of bricks has been subject to a degree of speculation.

— michael casagrande, AL.com, "With Alabama Walk of Champions out of room, where 2017 title team will go," 6 Apr. 2018
Court documents show that before the stabbing, Nampula-Cruz tried to stab a random, unrelated person, threatened to stab someone else and threw a brick through another person's car window.

— jim ryan, OregonLive.com, "Man gets prison for randomly stabbing teen in NE Portland," 6 Apr. 2018
Is there anything more sophisticated than a brick home painted white?

— diane cowen, Houston Chronicle, "A dramatic home makeover to inspire you," 6 Apr. 2018
Her kitchen, separate from her home and built of mud bricks, measures roughly two metres by two.

— The Economist, "Household smoke may be the world’s deadliest environmental hazard," 5 Apr. 2018
The family-friendly event includes a community lunch, a parade of United Way’s 100 heroes and agencies, and a united hand-raising experience on the yard of bricks, designed by Big Car Collective.

— maureen c. gilmer, Indianapolis Star, "Fundraisers aren't about fancy food and clothes; here are 7 fun events in Indianapolis," 2 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'brick.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of brick

Middle English bryke, from Middle Dutch bricke

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1525

See Words from the same year

brick Synonyms

Synonyms

blunder, bobble, boo-boo, clinker, error, fault, flub, fluff, fumble, gaff, gaffe, goof, inaccuracy, lapse, miscue, misstep, mistake, oversight, screwup, slip, slipup, stumble, trip;

Near Antonyms

accuracy, correctness, exactitude, exactness, preciseness, precision, strictness;

inerrancy, infallibility, perfection;

foul-up, snafu;

misapprehension, miscalculation, miscomprehension, misconception, misconstruction, miscue, misdescription, misimpression, misinterpretation, misjudgment, misreading, misstatement, misunderstanding;

brick

verb

Definition of brick

transitive verb

1 : to close, face, or pave with bricks —usually used with up, in, or over

brick up a doorway

brick over an opening

2 : to render (an electronic device, such as a smartphone) nonfunctional (as by accidental damage, malicious hacking, or software changes)

… those who dared hack the phone to add features … risked having it "bricked"—completely and permanently disabled—on the next automatic update …
—Jonathan Zittrain

3 basketball, informal : to miss (a shot) very badly : to throw up a brick on (a shot) (see ¹brick 6)

brick a free throw

See brick defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of brick from the Web

The security report noted how the vulnerability allowed someone to brick the router by removing critical files.

— shannon liao, The Verge, "Chinese city shops ordered to start using government-approved routers," 5 Apr. 2018
The game was already long over — the Heat up by 30 at that point — but the crowd that stayed might have gotten a small consolation prize if Haslem bricked his second attempt from the free-throw line.

— jordan mcpherson, miamiherald, "Udonis Haslem almost gifted Hawks fans free Chick-fil-A. Then he made a free throw | Miami Herald," 5 Apr. 2018
Murray then fired up an off-balance, leg-flailing three-pointer that bricked off the iron and seemed to end the game.

— matt velazquez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Nuggets 128, Bucks 125 (OT): The final comeback belongs to Denver," 1 Apr. 2018
But Anthony -- in a fitting end to a forgettable night -- bricked a three-pointer before the final buzzer.

— joe freeman, OregonLive.com, "Portland Trail Blazers show toughness, playoff poise in win over Oklahoma City Thunder," 26 Mar. 2018
After bricking most of his shots in regulation during Nevada's matchup against Texas, the Wolf Pack's go-to scorer kept the faith.

— scott gleeson, USA TODAY, "Caleb Martin's overtime heroics in Nevada's comeback win give us epic March Madness moment," 16 Mar. 2018
But Curry was double teamed on the final possession, couldn’t find a window for a shot and passed to a teammate who bricked the game-winner from well outside the three-point arc.

— chris chase, For The Win, "How the NBA's biggest stars fared in the NCAA tournament," 14 Mar. 2018
Cedi Osman, bless his soul, tried to showboat on a breakaway dunk after a steal and bricked it.

— joe vardon, cleveland.com, "Cavaliers, younger and fresher, trounce Celtics 121-99 on Paul Pierce's jersey retirement day," 11 Feb. 2018
Utah Valley 27, Kentucky 23, 3:59 1H: The Wolverines keep hanging around because the Cats keep bricking shots, still just 26.9 percent from the field.

— joe mussatto, ajc, "FINAL: No. 5 Kentucky 73, Utah Valley 63: recap, stats, box score, analysis," 10 Nov. 2017

First Known Use of brick

1592

BRICK Defined for English Language Learners

brick

noun

Definition of brick for English Language Learners

: a small, hard block of baked clay that is used to build structures (such as houses) and sometimes to make streets, paths, etc.
: blocks of baked clay used as building material
: a block of something