- present participle of build.
building
Americannoun
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a relatively permanent enclosed construction over a plot of land, having a roof and usually windows and often more than one level, used for any of a wide variety of activities, as living, entertaining, or manufacturing.
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anything built or constructed.
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the act, business, or practice of constructing houses, office buildings, etc.
noun
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something built with a roof and walls, such as a house or factory
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the act, business, occupation, or art of building houses, boats, etc
Synonym Usage
Building, edifice, structure refer to something built. Building and structure may apply to either a finished or an unfinished product of construction, and carry no implications as to size or condition. Edifice is a more formal word and narrower in application, referring to a completed structure, and usually a large and imposing one. Building generally connotes a useful purpose (houses, schools, business offices, etc.); structure suggests the planning and constructive process.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of building
First recorded in 1250–1300, building is from the Middle English word byldinge. See build, -ing 1
Explanation
Building is the process of making something. Building Lego cities and towns is the favorite activity of many kids. When a construction company is building a structure like a grocery store or a school, you can say it's building a building. Anything from a small house to a skyscraper can be called a building, and both meanings of the word come from the verb build, with its Old English root byldan, "build or construct a house."
Vocabulary lists containing building
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He is in the early stages of building a center for AI at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Law, where he studied.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Completed in 1902, the building was an architectural marvel with a pioneering steel-frame construction making it one of the city's first skyscrapers.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
SERVITE: New coach Rick Garretson has a history of building top teams with speed, which Friars have plenty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
There’s also been pressure building within the broader bond market as Big Tech “hyperscalers” increasingly issue a deluge of debt to help fund the artificial-intelligence buildout.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026
If he wasn’t hitting, sawing, or building something, he wasn’t happy.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
"If a winemaker receives a multi-million-euro offer for their buildings and facilities today, the temptation to give up the business is immense," he added.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
There are numerous aboveground buildings near there, which are known as the Fordow support site, which could be targeted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
It revealed "monuments ranging from prehistoric long barrows and forts to Roman buildings and even First World War practice trenches," they said.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
It should be noted, however, that before construction began, Universal Studios did place speakers on its old special effects and stunt buildings to see how noise traveled down the hill.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Lahars of mud and debris swept down the South Fork and North Fork of the Toutle River with reports of a twelve-foot wall of water, mud, logs, and buildings being pushed downstream.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
