Besser block

noun

Bes·​ser block ˈbe-sər- 

variants or besser block

plural Besser blocks or besser blocks

Australia

: cinder block sense 2

Against all the acoustic probabilities of grey Besser blocks and steel framing, the winery encourages the sounds of instruments and voices to bloom.

—Roger Covell, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 Dec. 1994

Each yard had a quota of car wrecks perched on Besser blocks or tree stumps.

—Russell Skelton, King Brown Country: The Betrayal of Papunya, 2010

Besser blocks and beaten copper panels were a crude attempt to create privacy …

—Karen McCartney, Iconic Australian Houses, 2007

The impact demolished the cement besser block wall and left a gaping hole in the store, which was empty at the time.

—Kate Lemmon, The Queensland Times, 30 Aug. 2012

Word History

Etymology

after the Besser Manufacturing Company, concrete block producer founded in Alpena, Michigan, in 1904

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above

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