breeze-block

noun

A lightweight building block made from cinders and concrete.

Meanings

breeze-block1

nounbreeze-block (plural breeze-blocks)

plural breeze-blocks · alternative breeze block · alternative breezeblock · alternative brieze block

breeze-block2

nounbreeze-block (plural breeze-blocks)

plural breeze-blocks · alternative breeze block · alternative breezeblock

  1. A type of perforated building block used for ventilation and letting natural light in.

    A triangular breeze block is introduced to create screening walls, forming the new entry pathway.

    2023, Patricia Callan, “House Gezelling”, in The New Modernist House: Mid-century Homes Renewed for Contemporary Living, Melbourne: Thames & Hudson Australia, →ISBN, page 269
    2 more examples

    Featuring, as the title “Concrete House” suggests, a main theme of concrete and perforated breeze blocks so evocative of the ’70s, it was cited in several categories of the Think Brick Awards and named project of the year in the Housing Industry Association’s Perth Innovation Housing Awards.

    2016 March 12, Jenny Brown, “Perth's concrete house reinvents the front porch”, in Domain, Sidney, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2016

    Unlike some building technologies, breezeblock doesn’t have one single “inventor.” Rather, the idea of decorative concrete blocks seems to have emerged in multiple corners of the world in the late 1910s and early 1920s, simultaneously appearing in buildings in Brazil, France, and California.

    2024 April 2, Timothy A. Schuler, “Why Honolulu Is Primed for a Breezeblock Comeback”, in FLUX Hawaii, Honolulu, archived from the original on 02 Apr 2024

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA lightweight building block made from cinders and concrete.

Origin

breeze-block · noun

From breeze (“residue from a furnace”) + block.

Full word history & related roots →

breeze-block · noun

From breeze (“light, gentle wind”) + block.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Esperanto betonbloko
  • betonblokoconcrete building block
Finnish rakennusharkko, harkko
  • rakennusharkkoconcrete building block
  • harkkoconcrete building block
French parpaing, bloc de béton
  • parpaingconcrete building block
  • bloc de bétonconcrete building block
German Hohlblockstein, Schalstein
  • Hohlblocksteinconcrete building block
  • Schalsteinconcrete building block
Korean 콘크리트 블록
  • 콘크리트 블록 (konkeuriteu beullok)concrete building block
Portuguese cobogó
  • cobogóperforated building block
Russian шлакобето́нный блок, шлакобло́к
  • шлакобето́нный блок (šlakobetónnyj blok)concrete building block
  • шлакобло́к (šlakoblók)concrete building block
Welsh brisbloc
  • brisblocconcrete building block
Cite this entry
APA

breeze-block. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/breeze-block

MLA

“breeze-block.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/breeze-block. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “breeze-block,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/breeze-block.

Source: breeze-block on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.