as in member
one of the parts that make up a whole
historically the infantry division has been a basic building block of armies
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Recent Examples of building block
Arginine is an amino acid (which are building blocks of proteins) that helps protect hair whereas the lipids help to protect the hair against thermal and UV damage from styling.
—
Kaitlin Clapinski, InStyle, 7 Feb. 2026
Rich people were never interested in building block after stately block of brownstones.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
The e-skin is made from magnetic patches that fit together like building blocks.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 12 Jan. 2026
But for this team, there’s building blocks for sure.
—Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 3 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for building block
Kaitlin Clapinski, InStyle, 7 Feb. 2026
Rich people were never interested in building block after stately block of brownstones.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
The e-skin is made from magnetic patches that fit together like building blocks.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 12 Jan. 2026
But for this team, there’s building blocks for sure.
—Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 3 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for building block
Recent Examples of Synonyms for building block
Noun
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The incident occurred as Minneapolis faced tensions from federal immigration enforcement operations, reflecting a broader uptick in threats against Congress members in recent years.—
Tim Sullivan,
Los Angeles Times,
8 May 2026
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Guadalupe Lopez, a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, took over the office in July 2025.—
Forum News Service,
Twin Cities,
8 May 2026
Noun
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Those downstream margin pressures due to cost increases reflect upstream margin expansion for the memory component manufacturers themselves.—
Tobias Burns,
CNBC,
10 May 2026
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But, this could be missing a trick as the nitrate contains large amounts of nitrogen, a key component of fertilizer in the first place.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
10 May 2026
Noun
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All these factors combined lead to more walks.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
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This is basically every aerophobic flier’s worst nightmare, and Harlin does a solid job of maintaining the fear factor and shock right up to the moment of Rich’s decision to dump fuel and ditch, since the nearest airport, Guam, is out of range.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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And the other really important element in this is, of course, the connection between Israel and the Jewish people.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
7 May 2026
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There's a gut-punching element of tragedy, too, as Loki kills his real father, Laufey (Colm Feore), then appears to plummet to his own death in the final act.—
Sergio Pereira,
Space.com,
6 May 2026
Noun
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As Estes notes, more than a few of these products had active ingredients that were cathartic or purgative, a fact rarely noted on labels.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
4 May 2026
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Oat is the formula’s first ingredient, which is effective at soothing sensitive, irritated scalps.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
4 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Building block.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/building%20block. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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