building

noun

build·​ing ˈbil-diŋ 

1

: a usually roofed and walled structure built for permanent use (as for a dwelling)

2

: the art or business of assembling materials into a structure

Synonyms

• edifice
• structure

Examples of building in a Sentence

My office is in that small brick building.

We bought the land for building.

Recent Examples on the Web

Residents of Baniyas, one of the towns worst hit by the violence, said bodies were strewn on the streets or left unburied in homes and on the roofs of buildings, and nobody was able to collect them. —arkansasonline.com, 9 Mar. 2025

But facing insufficient low-income housing, cities including New York discharged psychiatric patients and some wound up in single room occupancy buildings (SROs) with no mental health or other supportive services. —Robert M. Hayes, New York Daily News, 9 Mar. 2025

The owner of an old fire station let the group utilize the building for free. —Erik Kobayashi-Solomon, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025

But last year, the 171-year-old building that housed the popular bar was torn down weeks after the 2024 running of the parade. —Jeff Vorva, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing building

• apartment building
• building block
• building society
• sick building syndrome
• world building

Rhymes for building

• gilding
• boatbuilding
• outbuilding
• rebuilding
• roadbuilding
• shipbuilding
• upbuilding
• bodybuilding

Kids Definition

building

noun

build·​ing ˈbil-diŋ 

1

: a permanent structure built as a dwelling, shelter, or place for human activity or for storage

an office building

2

: the art, work, or business of assembling materials into a structure