building block
noun
: a unit of construction or composition
especially
: something essential on which a larger entity is based
Examples of building block in a Sentence
historically the infantry division has been a basic building block of armies
Recent Examples on the Web
View gallery - 7 images Functioning a little like oversized Lego, the versatility of shipping containers ensures that architects never run out of ideas for using them as building blocks.
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New Atlas, 6 Oct. 2025
While no life has been found on the 310-mile-wide moon, the discovery confirms that building blocks for it could be present, Nozair Khawaja, a planetary scientist at the Free University of Berlin in Germany, who led the study, said in a press release.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
But building blocks that connect seamlessly to existing networks remain elusive.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2025
Even as tragedy and struggle beset the tenement districts, the very qualities that defined the tenement’s unfavorable physical conditions—over-crowdedness and density—became building blocks for community.
—Annie Polland, Time, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for building block
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New Atlas, 6 Oct. 2025
While no life has been found on the 310-mile-wide moon, the discovery confirms that building blocks for it could be present, Nozair Khawaja, a planetary scientist at the Free University of Berlin in Germany, who led the study, said in a press release.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
But building blocks that connect seamlessly to existing networks remain elusive.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2025
Even as tragedy and struggle beset the tenement districts, the very qualities that defined the tenement’s unfavorable physical conditions—over-crowdedness and density—became building blocks for community.
—Annie Polland, Time, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for building block
Cite this Entry
“Building block.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/building%20block. Accessed 12 Oct. 2025.
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