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

Trump also ended tax credits for solar, wind and other renewable energy projects in a move that could reduce up to 300 gigawatts of nationwide build-out by 2035, the CPUC said. —Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2026

The scale and speed of today’s AI build-out is already driving up energy consumption and costs, and no amount of chip efficiency can compensate. —Eric Sullivan, Scientific American, 6 Jan. 2026

At full build-out, the Vegas Loop aims to span 68 miles with 104 stations. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 31 Dec. 2025

Gas and electric utilities will supply it, as long as eager investors are allowed to provide the necessary cash to fund an infrastructure build-out so large that consumer costs will finally fall. —Nick Bowlin, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025

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