building

build·ing | \ ˈbil-diŋ

How to pronounce building (audio)

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Definition of building

1 : a usually roofed and walled structure built for permanent use (as for a dwelling)

2 : the art or business of assembling materials into a structure

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Examples of building in a Sentence

My office is in that small brick building. We bought the land for building.

Recent Examples on the Web Producing this humble, gray, ubiquitous building material actually accounts for about 8% of global CO2 emissions. — Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, "Splitting water to make cement could clean up a dirty industry," 17 Sep. 2019 In The New York Times, Tejal Rao consults with Japanese cookbook author Sonoko Sakai to reverse-engineer one of the literal building blocks of my youth: Japanese instant curry roux. — Soleil Ho, SFChronicle.com, "Is America ready for a Colonel Sanders computer game?," 16 Sep. 2019 The relatively small number of building permits sought recently has been startling, considering the pent-up demand. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: San Diego is laying plans for a future building boom," 15 Sep. 2019 These nucleotides are the four building blocks of life, marked with letters A, C, G, and T. Binary sequences consisting of 0s and 1s are then translated into these four letters. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "The Entirety of YouTube Could Fit on a Teaspoon," 13 Sep. 2019 Getting around While silk is an excellent building material, it can also be used for transportation. — Jason Bittel, National Geographic, "How spider silk is one of the most versatile materials on Earth," 12 Sep. 2019 People around the country volunteer at food banks, schools, home-building projects, park cleanups and other community events around the anniversary. — Karen Matthews, Anchorage Daily News, "On 18th anniversary, America vows to ‘never forget’ 9/11," 11 Sep. 2019 Thousands breathed in air contaminated with pulverized building materials, microscopic shards of glass and asbestos for months. — Adriana Diaz, CBS News, "New York City residents battling illnesses after 9/11," 11 Sep. 2019 People around the country continue to volunteer at food banks, schools, home-building projects, park cleanups and other charitable endeavors on and near the anniversary. — Jennifer Peltz, Fortune, "U.S. Commemorates 9/11 as Its Aftermath Extends and Evolves," 11 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'building.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near building

builder's risk insurance

builders' hardware

building and loan association

building carpenter

Statistics for building

Last Updated

5 Nov 2019

Time Traveler for building

The first known use of building was in the 13th century

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More Definitions for building

building

noun

English Language Learners Definition of building

: a structure (such as a house, hospital, school, etc.) with a roof and walls that is used as a place for people to live, work, do activities, store things, etc.

: the act or process of making structures by putting together materials

See the full definition for building in the English Language Learners Dictionary

building

build·ing | \ ˈbil-diŋ

\

Kids Definition of building

1 : a permanent structure built as a dwelling, shelter, or place for human activities or for storage an office building

2 : the art, work, or business of assembling materials into a structure

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meddlesome, informal, or unofficial

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