build-out

noun

ˈbild-ˌau̇t 

variants or less commonly buildout

plural build-outs also buildouts

1

a

: work done to make a structure or system ready for use or to bring a construction or development project to a completed state

When the build-out of the campus is complete, as many as 7,500 students will attend class there.

—Janis L. Magin

b

: work done to expand a system (such as a telecommunications system)

The buildout of new infrastructure for digital cellular telephony is at such an early stage that it's impossible to predict what the performance of some of the systems will be.

—Brian C. Fenton

c

: a project or process involving such work

Of course, the Chinese are traveling and spending more in their own country too, in part because of a gigantic infrastructure build-out; China will have constructed more high-speed-rail capacity by the end of the decade than is currently operating in the rest of the world, some 10,000 miles' (16,000 km) worth.

—Bill Saporito

2

: a state in which an area has been fully developed

At build-out, the community is planned to include retail, restaurant and office space, a hotel, urban-style and loft apartments, townhomes, and condominiums.

—The Flower Mound (Texas) Leader

Examples of build-out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Construction is just about to start, and Bryant said the build-out is mostly cosmetic for the space since Park Burger was a full-running restaurant before closing in 2024. —Max Scheinblum, Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2026

Civilization doesn’t run on build-outs alone. —Alex Hawkinson, Fortune, 14 Feb. 2026

Two new CIDs are under consideration to finance the large-scale Eagle subdivisions of Avimor and Valnova, which have similarly expansive build-outs in the works. —Mark Dee, Idaho Statesman, 13 Feb. 2026

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images As Alphabet returns to the debt market to fund its artificial intelligence build-out, the company is acknowledging new risks tied to the rise of AI and its hefty investments in infrastructure. —Jennifer Elias, CNBC, 9 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1902, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for build-out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout