brick

plural bricks

1. countableA hardened rectangular block of mud, clay etc., used for building.

   This wall is made of bricks.

2. uncountableSuch hardened mud, clay, etc. considered collectively, as a building material.

   This house is made of brick.

   1 more example

   They gather one by one, trickling into the shady courtyard, the familiar hum of Mass. Ave. wafting in from behind brick buildings and iron gates.

   2005 June 9, Michael M. Grynbaum, “An Entryway That Eats Together Stays Together”, in The Harvard Crimson, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2025

3. countableSomething shaped like a brick.

   a plastic explosive brick

4. countableuncountableThe colour brick red.

   He disentangled himself from the safe door and delved inside. He brought out a brick of banknotes.

   2012, Kevin Sampson, Powder, page 34

   2 more examples

   The handyman considered the question and I knew she had a brick of ground beans in her bag but was considering whether the beds and a hot drink was worth a brick of coffee.

   2011, Seth Kenlon, Revolution Radio, page 70

   A few times, when I got tired of my whisky highs and tobacco fumes, I turned to my new little helper, the tiny brick of cannabis resin I got from Don.

   2021, Stan Erisman, A Sea of Troubles, page 31

5. countabledatedslanguncountableA helpful and reliable person.

   Thanks for helping me wash the car. You’re a brick.

   4 more examples

   “It's easy to see you're a brick!” replied Lady Augusta, and the laugh again became general.

   1863, Elizabeth Caroline Grey, Good Society; Or, Contrasts of Character, page 72

   Theobald's mind worked in this way: "Now, I know Ernest has told this boy what a disagreeable person I am, and I will just show him that I am not disagreeable at all, but a good old fellow, a jolly old boy, in fact a regular old brick, and that it is Ernest who is in fault all through."

   1903, Samuel Butler, chapter 48, in The Way of All Flesh

   ‘Somebody had to stay with you,’ said Bobbie. ‘Tell you what, Bobbie,’ said Jim, ‘you’re a brick. Shake.’

   1906, Edith Nesbit, The Railway Children, page 168

   “Well, I’ll do what I can for you,” said the seaman, …“If you were only shorter, I'd lend you some clothes.” “You're a brick,” said the soldier gratefully.

   1960, W.W. Jacobs, Cargoes, →ISBN, page 45

6. countableslanguncountableball gamesA shot which misses, particularly one which bounces directly out of the basket because of a too-flat trajectory, as if the ball were a heavier object.

   See also: put up a brick

   1 more example

   We can't win if we keep throwing up bricks from three-point land.

7. countableinformaluncountableA power brick; an external power supply consisting of a small box with an integral male plug and an attached cord terminating in another plug.
8. countablefigurativelyslanguncountablecomputingAn electronic device, especially a heavy box-shaped one, that has become non-functional or obsolete.
9. UKcountableslanguncountablegovernmentA projectile.

   I was on deck watching the firing, and looking at the direction in which our guns were pointing, it was obvious that it was not going to be Centurion who was going to receive our bricks.

   2019, Daniel Knowles, HMS Hood: Pride of the Royal Navy

10. countableuncountableengineeringA carton of 500 rimfire cartridges, which forms the approximate size and shape of a brick.
11. countableslanguncountablecard gamesA community card (usually the turn or the river) which does not improve a player's hand.

    The two of clubs was a complete brick on the river.

12. countableuncountablecollectible card gamesA card in a player's hand that is currently unplayable.
13. countableslanguncountableA kilogram of cocaine.

    I can sell bricks, I don't need to rap / Buj so peng it makes the fiends collapse / Cook that coca into crack / I was selling Zs while you was in your bed

    2013, Snap Capone, “Lights Out” (0:16 from the start), in The Memoir

14. countablederogatoryoffensiveuncountableLGBTQ slangA trans woman who does not pass.

    Was she like you—a brick, never passed, never gonna?

    2022, Gretchen Felker-Martin, chapter VI, in Manhunt, page 40

    1 more example

    In the world of drag, “brick” is a shady word, slang lobbed at queens whose makeup looks busted, whose wardrobes have seen better days, or who are just generally giving hot mess.

    2023 July 2, Cameron Scheetz, Queerty

    Antonyms: fish

15. countableslanguncountablesocial mediaA reel or short video.

    I built up this feed brick by brick.

    1 more example

    OK, you can have this brick back, I don't want it

16. countableuncountableAny member of the species Agrochola circellaris of moths of Europe and Asia Minor.
17. countableuncountableA brick phone.

present singular third person bricks · participle present bricking · participle past bricked · past bricked

1. transitiveTo build, line, or form with bricks.

   to be bricked alive (as a form of capital punishment)

   3 more examples

   If the ground is strong right up to the surface, a few yards are usually sunk and bricked before the engines and pit top are erected

   1904, Thomas Hansom Cockin, An Elementary Class-Book of Practical Coal-Mining, C. Lockwood and Son, page 78

   The shaft was next bricked between the decks until the top scaffold was supported by the brickwork and [made] to share the weight with the prids.

   1914, The Mining Engineer, Institution of Mining Engineers, page 349

   He came in and we went out to the back area I'd bricked amateurishly years ago.

   2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 18

2. transitiveTo make into bricks.

   The plant, which is here described, for bricking fine ores and flue dust, was designed and the plans produced in the engineering department of the Selby smelter.

   1904 August 15, James C. Bennett, “Lead Smelting and Refining with Some Notes on Lead Mining”, in Walter Renton Ingalls, editor, The Engineering and Mining Journal, published 1906, page 66

3. slangtransitiveTo hit someone or something with a brick.
4. slangtransitivecomputingTo make (an electronic device) non-functional and usually beyond repair, as a result of software or configuration issues.

   My VCR was bricked during the lightning storm.

   3 more examples

   Just need to project against users from deleting NK.BIN and bricking the device.

   2002 October 15, Mike Leeson, “How to write protect nk.bin”, in microsoft.public.windowsce.platbuilder (Usenet), retrieved 25 Feb 2016, message-ID <OHm5#hLdCHA.2592@tkmsftngp09>

   installing third-party firmware will void your warranty, and it is possible that you may brick your router.

   2007 December 14, Joe Barr, “PacketProtector turns SOHO router into security powerhouse”, in Linux.com

   Google owner Alphabet’s subsidiary Nest is closing a smart-home company it bought less than two years ago, leaving customers’ devices useless as of May. […] The company declined to share how many customers would be left with bricked devices as a result of the shutdown.

   2016, Alex Hern, “Revolv devices bricked as Google's Nest shuts down smart home company”, in The Guardian

5. intransitiveslangcomputingOf an electronic device, to become non-functional, especially in a way beyond repair, as a result of software or configuration issues.

   My phone bricked halfway through the videoconference.

   Antonyms: unbrick

6. intransitiveslangTo blunder; to screw up.

1. New Yorkcolloquialnot comparableAfrican-American VernacularExtremely cold.

   Read on for tips so you don't freeze your ass off when it's brick outside.

   2017 January 18, Anthony J. Yeung, “Running During Winter Sucks. But It Doesn't Have To.”, in Esquire

   3 more examples

   And while the tropics are definitely the place to be when it's brick outside, rocking a snorkel on the beach only works when you're snorkeling.

   2005, Vibe, volume 12, number 14, page 102

   He was always hanging tight with me and since he had access to a ride . . . it made traveling easier. I mean it was no biggie brain buster to take the train, but when it's brick outside . . . fuck the A train.

   2014, Ray Mack, Underestimated: A Searcher's Story, →ISBN, page 89

   "It's brick cold. Could you imagine stepping on this with your bare foot?" Taylor said.

   2018 January 4, Melissa Hipolit, “HUD: Creighton Court residents without heat being relocated”, in CBS 6 TV

   Synonyms: algid, Arctic, Baltic, boreal, brass monkeys, brumal, chill, chilled

plural Bricks

1. countableuncountableA surname.
2. countableuncountableA township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States, named after Joseph Brick.