brick

noun, often attributive \ ˈbrik \

|Updated on: 21 Jun 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

Meyer rewired the brick house, ran water lines and started brewing.

— shonda talerico dudlicek, Daily Southtown, "Retired engineer bringing his brews from milk shed to main drag in New Lenox," 13 June 2018
And yet, by himself, LeBron is a brick house divided.

— nick canepa, sandiegouniontribune.com, "It’s just baffling why so many see LeBron as such a villain," 2 June 2018
Hopkins and his partner, Bob Whisnant, headed to a stately brick house near the entrance to Janssen Place, a Central Hyde Park neighborhood dotted with historic mansions.

— judy l. thomas, kansascity, "He found a baby 36 years ago on a cold, snowy KC porch. Now he wants to find her again | The Kansas City Star," 25 May 2018
The tiny church, located inside a small, brick house in a quiet, residential area, has about 100 families, parishioners said.

— costas paris, WSJ, "Father of Accused Texas Shooter Believes Bullying Was Behind Rampage," 21 May 2018
At the scene of the home late Friday, a large brick house with a horseshoe driveway that was cordoned off, investigators could be seen walking through the house and gathering in the home's driveway, where three vehicles were parked.

— chelsea brasted, NOLA.com, "'Minor property dispute' leads to three dead in Marrero: JPSO," 19 May 2018
There has been a slew of inventive modern brick houses lately, with several hailing from tropical Vietnam.

— jenny xie, Curbed, "Adorable kindergarten is all brick and fun," 14 May 2018
Black shutters give the outside of the brick house a traditional feel.

— lauren beale, latimes.com, "Golf course home in Charlotte, N.C., no longer hits the right note for Fantasia," 14 May 2018
The 35-foot Madonna statue atop Orient Heights rises over a residential street of brick houses that appear frozen in time, untouched by the wave of development sweeping Boston.

— laura crimaldi, BostonGlobe.com, "With or without Amazon, Orient Heights development has some residents worried," 13 May 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

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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

bricked; bricking; bricks

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

Since 2012, District 203 spent more than $634,000 enhancing the varsity baseball field, bricking the backstop, adding screening and foul poles, renovating the press box, constructing handicap-accessible bleachers and installing batting cages.

— suzanne baker, Naperville Sun, "Dad demands equal spending on baseball and softball at Naperville Central: 'Title IX was enacted in 1972'," 9 June 2018
Most everyone else is bricking shots and playing terrible defense.

— rohan nadkarni, SI.com, "The Celtics Have Dominated the Cavs With Depth And Relentlessness," 15 May 2018
Things were ominous from the get-go Saturday as Davis opened the game by swishing an 18-footer and McCollum followed by bricking a three-pointer.

— joe freeman, OregonLive.com, "New Orleans Pelicans' stars outshine Trail Blazers' stars to steal Game 1 of Western Conference Playoffs," 15 Apr. 2018
Antetokounmpo's challenge clearly affected the high-arcing shot, which bricked off the backboard.

— matt velazquez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Bucks 124, Lakers 122 (OT): Eric Bledsoe finishes strong after Milwaukee stumbles," 31 Mar. 2018
The Buckeyes put together an 18-2 run, the two for Rutgers coming at the free throw line while the Knights continued to brick shots, at one point missing 13 of 14 field goal attempts.

— bill landis, cleveland.com, "Ohio State basketball stays unbeaten in Big Ten play, beats Rutgers 68-46," 15 Jan. 2018
Like many of those his players bricked in the series.

— john canzano, OregonLive.com, "Canzano: Portland Trail Blazers are in need of sweeping changes after playoff exit," 21 Apr. 2018
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

First Known Use of brick

1592

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

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