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

President Biden’s signature climate legislation is providing hundreds of billions of dollars to subsidize the build-out of clean energy around the country, turbocharging efforts to shift the economy away from planet-warming fossil fuels. —David Gelles, New York Times, 20 Sep. 2023

And that’s not even factoring in the cost of the super-custom build-out Julis had done by Japanese architect Hiroshi Sugimoto, which includes cedar floors, a Japanese tearoom, and a permanent installation of bonsai trees. —Curbed Staff, Curbed, 14 Sep. 2023

Simpson, an Army veteran whose day job is as a project management analyst for Millennium Space Systems, described spending more than $100,000 of her own money for her cafe’s build-out. —Heather Platt, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2023

The dashboard provides build-out details, including financial performance, and project schedules. —Laura Groch, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 July 2023

And the build-out of the mansion's mythology and ghosts – plus the sizable cast – distracts from Gabbie and Travis' core story. —Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 25 July 2023

Every morning, the team has to bring bread and pastries from that kitchen at 6:30 a.m. to make sure the storefront can open at 8 a.m. The build-out will include expanding the kitchen and the eating area. —oregonlive, 20 July 2023

Biden has pledged that the country will halve its total greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030, requiring a speedy build-out of energy infrastructure. —Timothy Puko and Lillian Cunningham, Anchorage Daily News, 19 July 2023

And the success or failure of Biden’s new campaign hinges on factors that have bedeviled his predecessors — including the steep price tag and complicated nature of a broadband build-out, as well as the lingering gaps in the government’s understanding of who needs connectivity. —Tony Romm, Washington Post, 26 June 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined at sense 1a