Meanings
plural building blocks
- literallyA component that is part of a larger construction, such as a brick or a stone.
- literallyA block made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy and can be stacked or joined to form a larger structure.
Near-synonym: toy block
Synonyms: toy block
- figurativelyA component that is an essential part of a larger system.
Cells are the building blocks of life.
2 more examples
Words are the building blocks of a language.
If you thought leveraged debt was bad when the Glazers did it with Manchester United, it’s possible you’ll find it even worse when water firms are holding you to a 40% bill hike if you simply want one of the essential building blocks of human life to come out of your tap.
2023 June 30, Marina Hyde, “The tide is coming in fast on Rishi Sunak – and it’s full of sewage”, in The Guardian
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA block made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy and can be stacked or joined to form a larger structure.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna single undivided natural thing occurring in the composition of something else
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 積木 /积木, 基礎 /基础
- 積木 /积木 (jīmù)block made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- 基礎 /基础 (jīchǔ)component that is part of a larger construction
Dutch bouwsteen, bouwsteen
- bouwsteencomponent that is part of a larger construction
- bouwsteen(figuratively) component that is part of a larger system
Finnish rakennuspalikka, rakennusosa
- rakennuspalikkablock made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- rakennusosacomponent that is part of a larger construction
- rakennusosa(figuratively) component that is part of a larger system
- rakennusosanen(figuratively) component that is part of a larger system
French cube, brique
- cubeblock made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- briquecomponent that is part of a larger construction
- bloc de constructioncomponent that is part of a larger construction
- composante(figuratively) component that is part of a larger system
- élément constitutif(figuratively) component that is part of a larger system
German Bauklotz, Spielbaustein
- Bauklotzblock made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- Spielbausteinblock made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- Bausteincomponent that is part of a larger construction
- Baustein(figuratively) component that is part of a larger system
Hungarian építőkocka, építőkő
- építőkockablock made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- építőkőcomponent that is part of a larger construction
Japanese 積み木
- 積み木 (tsumiki)block made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
Norwegian Bokmål byggeblokk, byggekloss
- byggeblokkblock made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- byggeklossblock made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- byggeblokkcomponent that is part of a larger construction
- byggesteincomponent that is part of a larger construction
Polish klocek, budulec
- klocekblock made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- buduleccomponent that is part of a larger construction
- element składowycomponent that is part of a larger construction
- blok(figuratively) component that is part of a larger system
- budulec(figuratively) component that is part of a larger system
Portuguese bloco de construção, bloco de montar
- bloco de construçãoblock made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- bloco de montarblock made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- bloco de construçãocomponent that is part of a larger construction
Russian ку́бик, строи́тельный блок
- ку́бик (kúbik)block made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- строи́тельный блок (stroítelʹnyj blok)component that is part of a larger construction
Spanish bloque de construcción
- bloque de construcciónblock made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
Turkish yapı bloğu, yapı taşı
- yapı bloğublock made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy
- yapı taşıcomponent that is part of a larger construction
Cite this entry
building block. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/building%20block
“building block.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/building%20block. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “building block,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/building%20block.
Source: building block on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.