build-out

noun

ˈbild-ˌau̇t 

variants or less commonly buildout

plural build-outs also buildouts

1

a

: work done to make a structure or system ready for use or to bring a construction or development project to a completed state

When the build-out of the campus is complete, as many as 7,500 students will attend class there.

—Janis L. Magin

b

: work done to expand a system (such as a telecommunications system)

The buildout of new infrastructure for digital cellular telephony is at such an early stage that it's impossible to predict what the performance of some of the systems will be.

—Brian C. Fenton

c

: a project or process involving such work

Of course, the Chinese are traveling and spending more in their own country too, in part because of a gigantic infrastructure build-out; China will have constructed more high-speed-rail capacity by the end of the decade than is currently operating in the rest of the world, some 10,000 miles' (16,000 km) worth.

—Bill Saporito

2

: a state in which an area has been fully developed

At build-out, the community is planned to include retail, restaurant and office space, a hotel, urban-style and loft apartments, townhomes, and condominiums.

—The Flower Mound (Texas) Leader

Examples of build-out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Pentagon plans to launch 133 more satellites over the next nine months to complete the build-out of the Space Development Agency's first-generation, or Tranche 1, constellation of missile-tracking and data-relay satellites. —Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025

Jim Cramer, and others on the Street, have pushed back on the idea that the AI infrastructure build-out taking place is somehow a zero-sum game. —Zev Fima, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2025

Furnishing a workplace is typically one of the last steps in a build-out, and delays can put occupancy deadlines at risk. —Daniel Fusch, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2025

By optimizing processes based on digital data and physically accurate models and simulations, businesses can leverage ideal materials and fine-tune layouts to ensure initial prototypes or build-outs perform optimally from the get-go. —Marco Chiappetta, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for build-out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout