brick

== English == === Etymology === From Late Middle English brik, bryke, bricke, from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch bricke ("cracked or broken brick; tile-stone"; modern Dutch brik), ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *brekan (“to break”), whence also Old French briche and French brique (“brick”). Compare also German Low German Brickje (“small board, tray”). Related to break. The social media slang sense derives from memes about building up one's feed “brick by brick”, analogizing bricks with reels that inform the algorithm. === Pronunciation === enPR: brĭk, IPA(key): /bɹɪk/ Rhymes: -ɪk === Noun === brick (countable and uncountable, plural bricks) (countable) A hardened rectangular block of mud, clay etc., used for building. (uncountable) Such hardened mud, clay, etc. considered collectively, as a building material. (countable) Something shaped like a brick. The colour brick red. (slang, dated) A helpful and reliable person. (basketball, slang) A shot which misses, particularly one which bounces directly out of the basket because of a too-flat trajectory, as if the ball were a heavier object. (informal) A power brick; an external power supply consisting of a small box with an integral male plug and an attached cord terminating in another plug. (computing slang, figurative) An electronic device, especially a heavy box-shaped one, that has become non-functional or obsolete. (UK, naval, slang) A projectile. (firearms) A carton of 500 rimfire cartridges, which forms the approximate size and shape of a brick. (poker slang) A community card (usually the turn or the river) which does not improve a player's hand. (slang) A kilogram of cocaine. (LGBTQ slang, derogatory, offensive) A trans woman who does not pass. Antonym: fish (social media, slang) A reel or short video. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== ⇒ Welsh: brics ==== Translations ==== === Verb === brick (third-person singular simple present bricks, present participle bricking, simple past and past participle bricked) (transitive) To build, line, or form with bricks. (transitive) To make into bricks. (transitive, slang) To hit someone or something with a brick. (transitive, computing slang) To make (an electronic device) non-functional and usually beyond repair, as a result of software or configuration issues. (intransitive, computing slang) Of an electronic device, to become non-functional, especially in a way beyond repair, as a result of software or configuration issues. Antonym: unbrick (intransitive, slang) To blunder; to screw up. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === brick (not comparable) (colloquial, African-American Vernacular, New York, of weather) Extremely cold. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cold ==== Translations ==== === See also === brickfielder brick it === Further reading === brick on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “brick”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. == French == === Etymology === For the ship, from English brig. For the item of Maghrebi cuisine, from brik, itself from an Arabic word borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بورك (börek). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /bʁik/ === Noun === brick m (plural bricks) (nautical) a brig, a two-masted vessel type a fritter with a filling ==== Descendants ==== → Romanian: bric → Ottoman Turkish: بریق (brik) Turkish: brik === Further reading === “brick”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 == Guyanese Creole English == === Alternative forms === brik === Etymology === From English brick. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /brɪk/ === Noun === brick stone, pebble Dem wutlis gyaal dem does pelt meh budday dem wid brick. ― Those naughty girls throw stones at my friends. === References === Samad, Daizal R.; Harripersaud, Ashwannie (2023), A Dictionary of Guyanese Words and Expressions, Blue Rose Publishers, →ISBN, page 25 == Manx == === Noun === brick m pl plural of breck === Mutation === == Portuguese == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English brick. === Noun === brick m (plural bricks) (ultimate frisbee) brick == Scots == === Verb === brick Southern Scots form of brak (“to break”)