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

Much of that growth has flowed into the same infrastructure debt funding the AI build-out, the data-centre bonds and private credit that carry investment-grade ratings and pay more than ordinary corporate paper. —Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026

Abu Dhabi has launched a drive to bring 55 billion dirhams ($15 billion) of private capital into its infrastructure build-out. —Dominic Dudley, semafor.com, 17 June 2026

Ensuring that companies pay their share for the power supply build-out could speed up electrification for residents, shifting homes and vehicles away from fossil fuels and saving people money. —Andres Clarens, The Conversation, 17 June 2026

The company is hoping that new technologies, such as BYD’s ultrafast charging system, along with a build-out of charging infrastructure, will allow the company to expand beyond the EV segment and compete head‑on with traditional gasoline cars in China and the rest of the world. —Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 15 June 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