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

Swanson, the signature $177 million free agent from an earlier phase of this build-out, won the 2021 World Series with the Atlanta Braves. —Patrick Mooney, The Athletic, 20 Feb. 2025

Rather than necessitating a fossil-fuel build-out, AI seems more to be a convenient excuse for Trump to pursue one. —Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2025

Together, the team transformed the charming but not super-functional house into one that not only lives larger but is also more efficient—all while sticking to a small budget and adding on just one 3-foot-deep build-out across the back. —Cameron Beall, Southern Living, 9 Feb. 2025

Chaska’s eventual build-out is only an additional 8,000 in population away. —Jay Rohe, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 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